I’m Sabrina Shaw and I lead an interesting life, never knowing where I’ll be sent or what I might be doing. I work for an organization called The Alliance that specializes in hostage negotiation and retrieval. People who work for The Alliance go where no one else wants to.
Truth is, my two older brothers and I were orphaned when our parents were murdered. My oldest brother, Max, tried to tough it out raising us himself. But at the age of twelve, that proved to be more than he could handle, especially when I got sick. He had no choice but to enlist some help. The man who took us in groomed us to be assassins. His name was Goren Petrovich. You might remember him from Play Nice by Gemma Halliday. A master at mind control and manipulation, he lured us in with the promise of safety, home-cooked meals, and a roof over our heads. It wasn’t until later we figured out his real agenda.
The three of us—Max, Jake and I—left the assassin life a long while ago. But that doesn’t mean I’ve turned soft. The job at The Alliance keeps me on my toes.
When I found out a young girl disappeared, and The Alliance refused the job, as they considered it a low-probability-of-success-assignment, I had to step in. I couldn’t let her parents down. I was the only hope they had for getting their daughter, Caitlyn, back. Through a whole lot of work and some lucky breaks, I was able to trace a connection for where to start my search. What I didn’t expect was to be kidnapped. But that was only the beginning of my journey to find Caitlyn.
I’ll admit I’ve been in some tough spots before, but being drugged, naked and chained up was a first even for me. How do I get out of what sounds like an impossible situation? Not going to say, but here’s a preview of my predicament from Hard To Kill:
Sabrina used her elbow to maneuver to a sitting position. Her muscles screamed in protest but she managed to right herself. As soon as she did, flashes of lights danced before her eyes and the room began to spin. She brought her head between her knees to keep from passing out.
Damn. Whatever they gave her, it was powerful. The effects, combined with lack of food or drink, lingered like a bad hangover with a getting-the-crap-kicked-out-of-you chaser. An almost overwhelming urge pulled at her to give up the fight and slump back to the floor. She fought against the impulse, knowing all too well the line between momentarily caving and capitulating was tenuous.
My brother Jake has his own story to tell in Hard to Trust. Jake’s assignment is guarding a CIA agent gone rogue, Tessa Graham. Let’s just say sparks fly and all manner of mayhem ensues. Here’s a short excerpt from Hard to Trust:
She rolled her eyes. “I can get out of this on my own, like I always do.” She pushed at his chest. “Back off, or I’ll scream.”
Her face was inches from Jake’s. His first unprofessional thought was that she was hot. His second thought corrected the first changing that descriptor to “breathtakingly beautiful.” He pressed himself to remember where a beautiful face had led in the past. And reinforced the idea she might very well be up to no good.
“And then what? The bad guys show some kind of fake badge and say they’re putting you under arrest, which we both know means they’re dropping you into the nearest landfill.”
Yes, Jake’s in a heap of trouble. But that’s nothing compared to Max who has his hands full trying to ignore NYPD Detective Gianna Collini even while he suspects her brother of trying to kill him. Below is a short excerpt from Hard To Stop:
“Holy crap. This kid’s your brother?” Even though he said it as a question, there wasn’t one iota of doubt in his mind. That had to be the only explanation.
“That’s none of your concern, Mr. Shaw.” She had this take-charge thing honed to an art form.
But she’d met her match in him. He never backed down. Never. “It damn well is. How can you investigate this matter if your brother is the chief suspect?” His body nearly vibrated as thoughts tumbled around inside his head. His friend was dead because of him, and a detective related to the suspect was supposed to find the guilty party.
Not. On. His. Watch.
Series books—love them or hate them and why? Leave comment below for a chance to win $10 Amazon gift card.
You can read more about Sabrina in Hard To Kill, the first book in the “Hard Target” romantic suspense trilogy, published by Gemma Halliday Publishing. The next two book in the trilogy are Hard To Trust and Hard To Stop.
All three books in the Hard Targets Series are on sale for .99 each this weekend only! Click HERE for the links.
GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment by 12 a.m. eastern on September 4 for the chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card. The giveaway is open to everyone. Winner will be notified within 48 hours after giveaway closes and you will have three days to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected.
About the author
Wendy lives in the Chicago area. She has a Masters in Social Work and worked in the child welfare field for twelve years before she decided to pursue her dream of writing.
Between teaching college classes, trying to get her morbidly obese cat to slim down and tempering the will of her five-year-old granddaughter, who’s determined to become a witch when she turns six so she can fly on her broom to see the Eiffel Tower and put hexes on people–not necessarily in that order–somehow Wendy still manages to fit in writing. She spends the remainder of her days inflicting mayhem on her hero and heroine until they beg for mercy.
Visit Wendy at www.wendybyrne.net, on Twitter and on Facebook
Love series books, but sometimes it is good for them to end and the author to create a new series.
I adore series. I feel as if the characters become friends who visit regularly. When there’s a delay between books, I miss visiting with them. I wonder what they’ve been up to. If a series ends, it feels somewhat like the death of a pal. That’s the way I feel about these Shaws. It’s really been too long since they’ve visited. When I found they were in Killer Beach Reads, I jumped on it. I’ve enjoyed a nice summer visit with them. I’m hoping they’ll return before Christmas. (They did visit briefly last Christmas!)
I have mixed feelings about series. If I like the characters, I want the series to go on forever. If I don’t, I hope the writer will let it end quickly. Sometimes, you just want to read a stand alone book more offer though, I want more. More stories about them. Maybe a series is what I like.
As I read to my grandson, I find he likes more Pete The Cat stories. I think I’ve hooked him on my love of series. I read Nancy Drew and the numbered and lettered mysteries for a minimum of a dozen volumes. Now that I’ve found Sabrina Shaw, I’ll stick with her. I love series.
I love the series. It give me a insight to who the people are, how they live, what they might do next, with a series there’s no unfinished business, no wanting more.
I like series books, but will occasionally read standalones if they sound interesting.
Sabrina sounds like one tough cookie. I love to read series with characters I can connect with.
Once again Dru you have brought to your blog a new author for my tbr list. Thanks for putting such an informative blog to print. robeader53@yahoo.com
I love reading series. It allows me to get to know and love the characters and feel like part of the story. I love watching the characters grow as a series progresses.
Thank you for the chance to enter this generous giveaway. 🙂
The negative thing about series for me is that I can’t afford to buy all the books! Sometimes, I am lucky enough to win book one and book three. Not that easy for me to get to the library either. I would love to win this giveaway, thank you for the chance.
Good Morning. I hope everyone’s day is going well. I love series books too. You get to know the characters so well as Peggy said. I had such a fun time writing Sabrina!
This sounds like an interesting series and I’d love to win the gift card as I’m retired and mostly get only free books for my kindle. Wendy, I have a five-year old granddaughter also and she wants to be a fairy princess Jedi knight detective engineer. No witch as yet! Yours sounds awesome!
Aren’t granddaughters amazing, Gail. I had two sons so it’s fun being around a little girl especially when they have such high aspirations. LOL
Granddaughters are great fun to buy things for even when they are in college. I love series. They give you a chance to better know the characters and put yourself into the situations that they are in.
I love this series-even though I have to admit to only reading 2 of the 3 books so far. I have owned the third book for awhile, just haven’t gotten around to reading it. I think partly because when I do, the series is over for me. 🙁 But I love reading series books! I ALWAYS have to start at the beginning of the series and read them all in order, no matter how many I have missed. I also love to reread a series after a year or more and get caught up in that make-believe once again. I think usually every book in the series gets better and better-and by the end you feel like these people are your real friends.
Thanks Dru and Wendy for featuring the series today and reminding me to reread and finish the series! 🙂 OH-thanks for the opportunity to win an amazon gift card…nothing better for a reader to receive!
So glad you like the series, Barbara.
Sounds like a trio I would like to know better.
I loved this series and found the novella, Hard to Control, from the Killer Beach Reads anthology, a cute addition to the series and a fun visit with these fantastic characters. Keep up the great work! 🙂
I love series books, as long as they are growing as the books go on
Love series. I find I get very attached to the characters and enjoy catching up with them as each new book is released. I can’t remember the last time I read a non-series book. Loved Hard To Kill. Getting ready to start Jake’s story. I know you have finished with these books (just three books in this series, correct?). What’s next? I enjoy your writing so I hope you are working on something new. Thanks for the chance to win!
I’m not familiar with this series, but it sounds interesting.
Wow. This sounds like a great set of books. Thanks for the chance to win.
Sounds like a real thrill ride edge of your seat kind of books.
Sounds like good reads
I love series, too. Hope I win.
Sounds like a great series!
Thanks for all the great comments ladies. Using a random number generator, the winner is Barbara Landrum. Congrats! Please contact me at wtbyrne@sbcglobal.net.
I’m definitely going to try this series, sounds great. Hope I can win one!
Series. True it can get expensive but most authors don’t go beyond 4 or 5. If you like an author, you want all the writings anyway. I like to read in chronological order.
I like series but sometimes they go on too long.
Contest is closed.