Winter's Heat by Cristin Harber (@CristinHarber & @GoddessFish)

Today, I welcome Cristin Harber to Beyond My Writing Space, with the action packed Winter's Heat. 

I really really enjoyed Winter's Heat. There chemistry, intrigue, and a lot of action. Its perfect escapism for a cold autumn night. Colby Winter's is action man with soft squishing centre and Mia Kensington is psychologist with a hard core as Colby finds out when he attempts to rescue her from her abductors. 

I don't want to give too much away with this one because its one I'd definitely recommend. But as they crawled under each others skin, I found myself chuckling, later rooting for both of them in different ways, and smiling when they reached the end. 

Buy Winters Heat at Amazon

The Deets

After putting her life on the line to protect classified intelligence, military psychologist Mia Kensington is on a cross-country road trip from hell with an intrusive save-the-day hero. Uninterested in his white knight act, she’d rather take her chances without the ruggedly handsome, cold-blooded operative who boasts an alpha complex and too many guns.

Colby Winters, an elite member of The Titan Group, has a single objective on his black ops mission: recover a document important to national security. It was supposed to be an easy in-and-out operation. But now, by any means necessary becomes a survival mantra when he faces off with a stunning woman he can’t leave behind.

When Titan’s safe houses are compromised, Colby stashes Mia at his home, exposing his secret—he’s the adoptive father of an orphaned baby girl. Too soon, danger arrives and Mia lands in the hands of a sadistic cartel king with a taste for torture. As hours bleed into fear-drenched days, Colby races across the globe and through a firestorm of bullets to save the woman he can’t live without.

Inside the cover of Winter's Heat

Gunfire surrounded her. Coming for them, shooting away from them. They fired. He fired back. The burnt gunpowder floated behind him, blazing into her nose and eyes. Still, she pushed, moving as he moved, tracing his cross-hatched steps, ducking when he ducked. A shadow behind the man.

She heard a thump. He growled and missed a step but didn’t stop moving. Brilliant red blood sprayed onto her. He didn’t slow. Her legs burned keeping the pace.

They rounded the corner, and he pressed her against the stucco wall. His blood stained her. It painted the wall and covered his hands. Vehicles came their way. Armed men poured from a hole in the perimeter fence like ants from an anthill. Fireballs from the jungle hit the vehicles. Violent explosions sent deadly fireworks into the sky. Rubber and diesel burned hot. Black smoke billowed around the armed men running toward them.

The heat, humidity, and smoke would have slowed a lesser man. So would a gunshot wound. He scanned the vast lawn.

“We have to make it past that hole in the fence. There’s a vehicle waiting for us. We’ve got a sniper in the trees, and two more men on the ground. When you see someone dressed like me, you run like hell toward him. Got it?”

“You’re hurt.” She wanted to run her hands across his skin and stop the bleeding.

He ignored her. “Say it, Mia. Can you do this?”

“I can.” She gave him a strong nod, exacerbating her headache. She didn’t care. Colby was here, and she’d do whatever he needed her to do.

“You got this. Let’s go.”

He gave her a small push in the right direction. Bullets sounded around her. Men ran toward them, guns pointed their way. The shots hit the grass, spitting up dirt, and slapping her face. She tasted blood and grit, and felt the filth in her mouth, which caked her lips and teeth.

White-hot pain rocketed through her. A dizzying flash made her stumble. He grabbed her upright.

“Flesh wound. Keep going,” he shouted above the noise. His teeth were gritted together. He huddled beside her, pulling her. “There’s Jared. Run!”

Another thump. He was hit again, as he shielded her from the rain of artillery. One by one, men advanced toward them and were dropped by a sniper. But as one went down, another appeared.

She heard another bullet hit. Winters dropped to his knee, pulled Mia under him, and cursed violent threats. His sweat and blood coated her. She felt it through the layers of clothing and vests. He scooped her with one arm and crawled behind a statue.

“How bad are you hurt, Colby?”

“Doesn’t matter.” His labored breaths worsened with each passing moment.

“How bad, damn it?”

Winters stopped laboring and laughed. “You’re unreal, you know that?”

Mia glared at him.

“Bad. But I think Kevlar got most of it. Everything heals. I’m not worried. Jared’s twenty yards ahead, picking them off. We have to go for it right now. Or we don’t have a chance. You got it, babe?”

“I can do this.”

“I know you can. Run, baby, run.” He took off at a limped sprint, acting as a barrier from the fire again.

His leg went out from under him. The whiz of bullets went to slow motion, the sound ceased. Mia dropped on bent knees, watching him on the ground.

“Run, goddamn it,” he shouted. His veins popped out of his neck as he fired into the distance.

The world came back, loud and furious. Her legs moved, even though her mind was numb. Jared appeared out of nowhere. He jumped from his perch and snared her with an arm, dragging her into the vehicle.

“Wait. Colby.”

Jared threw the vehicle into gear and spun tires as he tore down the makeshift road. Branches and jungle leaves scratched at the windshield.

Mia launched at Jared, hitting his shoulder.

“Colby’s hurt.” Tears and terror filled her throat. The very depths of her soul ached. Her screech turned to a pleading whisper. “Please. Help him.”

“They were right on your tail. They’ve got him by now.”

Dread ricocheted through her head. All the pain and loss pressed onto her. Suffocating despair ripped her apart. Tears streamed down. Rapid breaths came fast. Too fast. She tried to cut them off but failed. All went black.

The Giveaway

Cristin will be awarding a $25 GC to Victoria’s Secret, and gifted e-copies of the five titles in the series (starting w/ Winters Heat. Three novels and two novellas) to one randomly drawn commenter during this tour AND the Virtual Super Book Blast tour.

The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found below. Follow the tour!

Who is Cristin Harber?

Romantic Suspense Author: Higher Stakes. Hotter Action.

MOM. WIFE. AUTHOR.

Lover of all things sexy and happily ever after.

I live outside Washington, DC with my family: my husband (who doesn’t mind my collection of book boyfriends), an independent toddler, and an English bulldog named Britta who loves to be a conversation piece. Oh, we have a baby on the way—arriving about the same time as WINTERS HEAT debuts!

I love southern food, listen to country music, am always too hot or too cold, and spend hours reading and writing. I cheer on my University of Louisville Cardinals-GO CARDS! When I’m not pregnant (or nursing), I like a little bourbon or sweet wine. Pregnant or not, I love a lot of chocolate.

I can’t save the world, so instead, I write about those that do. There’s a special place in my heart for those who keep us safe. My Titan series debuts this fall with five titles available in 2013: WINTERS HEAT, GARRISON’S CREED, WESTIN’S CHASE, CHASED, and GAMBLED.

signup for series info 

 Connect with Cristin at 

GOODREADS: 

WEBSITE: 

FACEBOOK: 

TWITTER: 

Erin

Winter's Heat on Tour

October 14: Jenna Allen
October 15: Sarah Grimm, Author
October 16: Chris Redding Author
October 17: Wake Up Your Wild Side
October 18: Wicked Readings by Tawania
October 21: A Writer's Life
October 22: Sexy Adventures, Passionate Tales
October 23: Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
October 24: Renee Entess's Blog
October 25: Beyond My Writing Space
October 28: You Gotta Read Reviews
October 29: In Shadows
October 30: Nana Prah's Blog
October 31: The Pen & Muse Book Reviews
November 1: Indy Book Fairy
November 4: Sandra's Blog
November 5: Susana's Morning Room 
November 6: Snarky Mom Reads...
November 7: Rachel Brimble Romance
November 8: The Fuzzy, Fluffy World of Chris T. Kat
November 11: JM Stewart
November 12: Fantasy Powered by LoveK
November 13: Booklover Sue
November 14: Room With Books
November 15: Worlds of Possibilities
November 18: Welcome to My World of Dreams 
November 19: Book2Buzz
November 20: It's Raining Books 
November 21: Romance Addict Book Blog
November 22: Adrienne deWolfe
November 25: Musings and Ramblings
November 26: Read Your Writes Book Reviews
November 27: Straight from the Library
November 28: Literary Nook
November 29: Long and Short Reviews
December 2: Queen of the Night Reviews
December 3: Words of Wisdom from The Scarf Princess
December 4: Tory Richards
December 4 SECOND STOP: Sun Mountain Reviews
December 5: Dalene's Book Reviews
December 6: The Simple Things in Life