Shot Across the Bow (Deep Six 5) by Julie Ann Walker-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway
SHOT ACROSS THE BOW
Deep Six #5
by Julie Ann Walker
Release Date: November 29, 2021
Genre: adult, contemporary, romantic suspense
Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play /
ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 29, 2021
The former Navy SEALs of Deep Six Salvage thought they could retire to the sea and hunt for treasures of the deep, but when trouble comes to visit, there’ll be hell to pay.
Former Navy SEAL Spiro “Romeo” Delgado is six-plus feet of high-octane charm, and he has two hard and fast rules. One, always come to the rescue of those in need. And two, never give up his fast and furious bachelor ways. But when Mia Ennis joins Deep Six Salvage on the hunt for the Santa Cristina, her mesmerizing blend of brains, beauty, and bravery makes him question everything he thought he wanted in life.
Mia’s traumatic past has taught her to keep everyone she meets at arm’s length. But Romeo, with that body that is forever tensed for action and that dark gaze that tracks her every move, makes her feel safe in a way she never expected. Yet the secret she carries compels her to keep her distance—even as the past comes back to haunt them.
A harrowing plane crash ends with Romeo and Mia marooned on a desert island. When a boatful of men bent on murder drop anchor, Mia discovers her only hope for survival depends on her letting her guard down around Romeo. But surrendering to the passion she feels for him might be the most dangerous thing of all…
•••••••
REVIEW:SHOT ACROSS THE BOW is the fifth instalment in Julie Ann Walker’s contemporary, adult DEEP SIX romantic suspense series focusing on a group of former US Navy SEALs who own and operate a marine salvage business-Deep Six Salvage. This is former Navy SEAL Spiro ‘Romeo’ Delgado, and marine archeologist Mia Ennis’s story line. SHOT ACROSS THE BOW can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. The DEEP SIX series is a spinoff from Julie Ann’s BLACK KNIGHTS INC series. Romeo and Mia’s story started in book four DEEPER THAN THE OCEAN.
SOME BACKGROUND: The DEEP SIX series follows six former military or special ops agents who, upon retirement, set up their own business running secret missions behind the scenes. Searching for the wreck of the Santa Cristina near Wayfarer Island, the Deep Six team continues to encounter terrorists, pirates and drug runners on their hunt for sunken treasure.
Told from several third person perspectives including Romeo and Mia, Doc and Cami, SHOT ACROSS THE BOW follows the Deep Six team as they continue their search for a sunken treasure off Wayfarer Island but three members of the team-Romeo, Mia and Doc-along with property attorney Cami D’Angelo find themselves stranded on a small, remote island when an explosion sends their plane into the ocean, an explosion that may have targeted one of the people on board. As the foursome set about making a temporary shelter, past histories reveal startling revelations wherein anyone could have been in the direct line of fire. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Romeo and Mia, and the potential fall-out as the foursome find themselves facing down more than one gunmen when the true target is revealed.
Meanwhile, Dalton ‘Doc’ Simmons finds himself in an acrimonious relationship with the team’s property attorney Cami D’Angelo, a relationship fraught with palpable sexual attraction disguised by animosity, fueled by circumstance.
The relationship between Mia and Romeo is one of immediate attraction but Mia’s past refuses to let go, controlling all of her actions going forward. Believing she is not worthy of love, Mia is constantly pulling away from the man with whom she will fall in love, a man who has made it clear, he too wants nothing permanent going forward.Stranded together, Mia and Romeo find themselves acting on their mutual attraction, an attraction that is quickly crossing the line from friendship to love. The lone $ex scene is passionate and seductive without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
The secondary and supporting characters include Mason McCarthy and Alexandra Merriweather; LT Anderson and Olivia, Dalton ‘Doc’ Simmons, attorney Cami D’Angelo, as well as Mia’s mother Jane Ennis, and her cousin Carter. Doc and Cami’s story line is next in DEAD IN THE WATER.
SHOT ACROSS THE BOW is a story of betrayal and vengeance, greed and jealousy, dysfunctional family dyanamics, friendships, relationships, sacrifice and love.The character driven premise is edgy and compelling but the guilty party is revealed early on, therefore the intrigue and suspense is limited; the characters are animated and dynamic; the romance is compelling and intimate.
The DEEP SIX series is an imaginative, detailed and impassioned series that reveals the destructive nature of greed and power across all walks of life.
Reading Order and previous reviews
Hell or High Water
Devil and the Deep
Ride the Tide
Deeper Than the Ocean
Copy supplied by Netalley
Reviewed by Sandy
Eventually, though, he couldn’t stand her silence any longer. “You’re being awfully quiet this evening.” He realized what he’d said, and rephrased. “I mean, quieter than usual. What’s on your mind?”
She tentatively met his searching gaze. For a moment, he thought she wouldn’t answer. Then, she did. And when she did, the simple truth of her words, and the way she said them without ego or artifice, hit him like a grenade from a rocket launcher. “The answer to that question is the same as it’s been for the last couple of months. You. You’re what’s on my mind. It’s always you.”
“My god, Mia.” His voice sounded like it’d been raked over rocks on the way out of his mouth. “You have no idea—”
He stopped there, because he wasn’t sure what he even wanted to say. That she had no idea what she did to him? That she had no idea how she made him feel? That she had no idea that it was taking the last bit of his willpower not to pull her to him so he could taste the mouth those sweet words came out of?
She placed a gentle hand in the center of his chest, and his heart thudded up to meet her touch. “Are we about to become lovers?” Her expression seemed pensive.
When the wind whipped some of her hair across her face, he did something he’d been longing to do since the day they met. He brushed the wavy lock behind the delicate shell of her ear, letting the strands slip slowly through his fingertips.
“I want that,” he admitted in a voice so low it was barely more than a growl. “Is that what you want?”
His heart tripped over itself when something that looked very much like indecision moved behind her eyes.
“Yes,” she finally answered, and he realized his shoulders had tensed, because they suddenly relaxed. “But…” She frowned. “Can you promise, no matter what, we’ll stay friends? I don’t think I could stand it if—”
He silenced her by placing a finger over her lips. He’d have rather used his mouth for the job, but once he started kissing her, he wouldn’t be able to stop. And right then she needed his words, not his tongue.
“I will never stop being your friend, cariña,” he swore to her.
She looked relieved. But it only lasted a second before her brow beetled again.
He used her troubled expression as an excuse to run his finger over her forehead, down her pert nose, and beneath her stubborn chin. There, he stopped, tilting her face up so that she was forced to hold his gaze. “What is it?” he asked quietly. “Tell me.”
“I haven’t…” She rolled in her lips when the words seemed to get stuck in the back of her throat. After a second, she tried again. “I haven’t had as many lovers as you have. I might not be what—”
He didn’t let her finish. He didn’t need to. “Mia, my sweet, sexy woman, believe me when I say that’s nothing you have to worry about.”
She nodded. But he could tell she was still nervous.
Who could blame her? Doc had accused him of staring at her like he’d like to eat her whole. What small, delicate creature wouldn’t be nervous when she found herself caught in the sights of a much bigger, much hungrier predator?
But he wasn’t going to eat Mia in one giant gulp. Mia wasn’t a fast-food french fry. She was a seven-course meal from a Michelin-starred restaurant.
He was going to eat her slowly, lick by lick. And bite by delicious bite.
But first…
“Breathe, cariña.” He tucked another unruly strand of hair behind her ear because he couldn’t get enough of touching her. “We aren’t going to start now.”
Not that he didn’t want to. He’d have liked it if they never stopped after that first kiss. But she was all up in her head, and that’s the last place he wanted her. When he made his move, and he would make his move, he wanted her totally in her body.
“Let’s sit down.” He gestured to a small log that had washed up on the beach. It was bare of bark and made smooth by its time at sea. “Will you read to me?”
When she nodded, he led her to the driftwood. After sinking down beside her, he let out a contented sigh when she unzipped her purse, took out the book, and began to read.
Her husky voice drifted in the salty evening air, sounding like pure seduction. And the blush on her cheeks was a soft, delicate pink that matched the sunset-tinged clouds.
It was an odd feeling to know that, despite the loss of his plane, despite their precarious predicament, he’d never been happier than he was right then. Sitting next to her. His thigh touching her thigh. The waning light bathing them both. And the anticipation of what was to come humming softly in the air around them.
And what happens after? the voice in the back of his head asked.
He wished the sonofabitch had a face so he could plant his fist in it. The voice had never cared about after before, so why was it talking about after now?
After doesn’t matter, he assured the voice and himself. After we’ll be friends, just like I promised. And in the meantime…
She would be his. And that would be enough.
He would make sure it was enough.
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Julie Ann Walker is graciously offering an ebook copy of SHOT ACROSS THE BOW to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.
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