Title Concealed by the Tide: A Tide Harbor Romantic Suspense
Author Zara West
Genre Romantic Suspense
Publisher Tidal Waters Press
Book Blurb
A wily bomber... A determined activist... A man with a secret…
Uncompromising eco-activist Summer Avery abandons the bustle of New York City and scurries to the tiny coastal village of Tide Harbor, determined to accomplish what a crazy bomber has not—stop the destructive Minas Basin tidal energy project in its tracks and earn the EcoGreen directorship.
Desperate for a safe place to raise his autistic daughter, recently divorced marine biologist Gil Moses. takes a job with the tidal energy company, ostensibly to study lobsters, but actually to capture the bomber. The last thing Gil needs is to be the focus of a rip-roaring protest led by Miss Fancy Boots, the most attractive and enigmatic woman he has ever met.
But there’s a killer on the loose, and Summer must choose—sacrifice her career or risk her life to save her Captain Nemo and the little girl she has come to love.
If you enjoy suspenseful thrillers where feisty women and protective men battle against the odds, you'll love this fast-paced, action-packed romance mystery. Get caught up in the thrilling first book of the Tide Harbor Suspense series
Excerpt
Splash.
Water kicked up over the gunwales.
“Gun it, mate.”
The driver throttled up, and the boat took off, heading back to the harbor.
Minutes later, a column of water shot up in the air with a whoosh. Spray rained down on the deck. Shockwaves from the underwater explosion ripped beneath the hull and drove the boat forward.
The bomber grasped the cabin housing as the boat dipped and bobbed and smiled at his companion. “Done.” He took a swig from his flask and swallowed. “Now we wait and see what turns up.”
CHAPTER 1
Idiots. Summer Avery took a last glance at the New York Times article about the amateur bomb attack on Seastroke Energy’s undersea energy generator then stuffed the news clipping into her backpack. Bombing the turbine was a surefire way to turn people against the local fishermen fighting the turbines. Nobody liked terrorists.
The Tide Harbor folks needed to win over the press and the authorities, not antagonize them. Without someone to organize them and get positive publicity, the bombers would end up in jail, and in six months, Seastroke’s tidal energy monstrosity would be spinning away, killing fish.
They needed help. They needed her—EcoGreen Action’s star activist, community-liaison, and former high-power marketer.
She fingered her mother’s locket. This was her chance to show her dying father that you could fight the big corporations and bring them down.
She leaned back in her seat. At least she’d been able to catch the last ferry of the season going to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. But after eight hours of straight-through driving from New York City to Bar Harbor, she was exhausted.
She clutched the arm of her seat as the ship tipped to one side then the other. The three-hour boat ride would be a welcome break, even if wind and rain pelted the windows and the odd roll of the high-speed catamaran car ferry was stirring up the contents of her stomach.
Her mind required a distraction, and she had just the thing.
She pulled out the technical article on Minas Basin marine life and settled in to bone up on maritime ecology.
Just as she reached the end, a child screeched. The sound drilled through her and raised the hairs on the back of her neck. If there was something that set her on edge, it was a child in distress. It brought back too many memories better forgotten.
Summer slapped her hands over her ears and peered around the seatback. Inside the passageway to the midsection, a man with the build of a linebacker grappled with a small girl who barely reached his waist. The child’s face was white with terror, her eyes bulging, and her high-pitched shrieks ear-shattering. He encircled her in his arms and pulled her against him.
The little one yelled louder.
Summer tossed the research study onto the empty seat next to her and glanced around. It was the end of the season, and the few passengers in the ferry’s lounge were doing what everyone did—looking anywhere but at the parent-child drama. Well, she wasn’t everyone. The bewildered man looked like he needed help.
She stood. Beneath her feet, the ferry rolled and twisted. She faltered and latched on to the armrest to keep from falling. Her stomach, unfortunately, kept right on going. Stupid seasickness. Why did it have to be rough the first time she was on a boat?
She swallowed back the nausea, cursed the eco-bomber for choosing cold, foggy Nova Scotia for his antics instead of some oil rig in the balmy Gulf of Mexico, and wobbled on her favorite high-heeled boots toward the screaming girl.
Three feet away, she stopped. “Your child seems to be in distress. Can I help?”
The man’s head jerked up, and his dark brown, almost black eyes met hers. He held the girl in an armlock against him, wincing under a barrage of kicks to his shins. “Stay back, lady. Don’t—”
Summer softened her voice. “I’ve had a lot of experience with children.” Well, she had, even if it was a long time ago.
The girl screamed again as the man struggled to control her. He really needed assistance.
She formed her lips into her best I’m-confident smile. “Please let me help. Have you tried singing to her?” She moved forward.
At that moment, a pair of gabbling senior citizens, coffee cups balanced in their hands, wobbled down the aisle. The ferry rolled, and the old couple swayed, jostling the man and child. The man lost his hold. The girl broke free and, with a high-pitched yell, ran straight at her.
Summer crouched and extended her arms. “Come, sweetheart. I’ll keep you safe.”
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Why is your featured book a must-read?
"I thoroughly enjoyed Concealed by the Tide. The story kept me engaged and wondering what would happen next. The stakes were present early on and the grew until the climax, making it a very suspenseful read. It read like a cinematic experience. I felt Summer and Gil were excellent, fully fleshed characters and I loved their chemistry. I also really enjoyed the subject matter and I learned a lot about tide turbines. I loved how nuanced the conflict was and the back and forth between Gil and Summer mirrored my own thinking on what was the right thing to do." Janae, BETA reader
"OH. MY. WORD. I loved this book, and I loved that Gil cared for the little girl that stole my heart!! I liked that Summer had the determination to do what was right by taking on the big giant who had plans to destroy the pristine Tidal Harbor." Linda, Goodreads
"Containing complex characters with tragic pasts, and an intriguing prologue of sabotage and blackmail, this is a suspenseful, drama-packed, and bittersweet novel with a fair amount of violence, touches of steam, and a happy ending." Kim, Goodreads
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Runs December 5 – December 14, 2023.
Winner will be drawn on December 15, 2023.
Author Biography
A member of Romance Writers of American, and Women’s Fiction Writers, Zara is an award-winning author of both fiction and non-fiction in the fields of ethnography, education, and the arts. Under the pen name, Zara West, she has published the award-winning romantic thriller series The Skin Quartet. She is also the author of the Write for Success writing craft series.
Zara blogs about romance at Zara West Romance, about writing at Zara West’s Journal and teaches numerous online writing courses. Find her current teaching schedule here, and sign up for her mailing list here.
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