Title: Sea Hunter
Author: D. V. Stone
Genre: Historical/Action Adventure/Paranormal/Romance
Book Blurb:
A wisp of smoke, a swirl of promise, a breath of destiny…a message within the Mortar & Pestle for those who want to believe. Throughout time people have sought their heart’s desire. But true love is often elusive. Carved with ancient Norse runes, the Mortar & Pestle shows paths to happily-ever-afters. Once you capture the Mortar & Pestle’s scent of magic, you’ll want to read all seven individual romances.
Sea Hunter:
On the turbulent high seas, an archeologist must protect a historic shipwreck from treasure hunters—not fall for one.
Zahra Corbyn.
I’m a Sea Hunter. As an underwater archeologist and professor of antiquities, it is my duty to stop treasure hunters and looters from raiding Sea Wraith. But fate is a funny thing. Now I find myself working with Jack Alexander, a treasure hunter, to protect history from a known looter. Did my heart’s desire change?
Captain Jack Alexander.
I’ve been told women on a ship are unlucky, but this one has the two pieces of the map I need to finally claim Sea Wraith. Now I find myself in a deal that makes me one-third partner with her and a known scoundrel.
Can the two unlikely allies work together while safeguarding their hearts against the power of the Mortar and Pestle?
If you like Lara Croft and Indiana Jones, you’ll love Zahra Corbyn and Jack Alexander.
Excerpt:
“Come on, gorgeous.” Hugh slunk up behind her again, his plummy voice sliding over her like mold on fruit. “You like the attention. Stop playing hard to get.”
Zahra Corbyn flinched. Between the wind blowing and her fascination with the choppy waters off Cape Cod, she’d missed the sound of his approach. This man needed to leave her alone. The jerk saw her USO dancing-and-singing act overseas and decided she was easy. Though World War II was over, this battle raged on. She turned and stiff-armed him to keep him away. “I’ve told you more than once—I’m not interested.”
“Listen, chippies like you are nothing but teases.” He grabbed her wrist. A greasy lock of dark hair fell across his forehead. “I…
“It’s lady, jerk.” She let her arm go soft as she kicked out and broke the hold. “And I said, ‘no’.”
Taking a boxer’s stance, she fisted her hands. This guy picked the wrong woman to mess with. Zahra knew how to take care of herself.
A sneer crossed his face under the bushy eyebrows and wide flat nose, but he turned away.
Zahra relaxed. After being released with the last USO troop, she was tired and wanted nothing more than to be left alone. Besides, the ocean waves called to her.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw him swing back around with a viper’s speed.
She whirled about.
His shoulder hit her stomach.
“Oomph.”
“You tease. I’ll show you.” He rushed forward. “Filthy Jezebel.”
Zahra flailed when he pitched her over the rail of the steamer.
The sneering smile got smaller, and he saluted before the frigid Atlantic water closed over her.
Splashing into the rough water, she suppressed her initial gasp. As an experienced diver, she understood the peril of aspirating saltwater. However, her heartbeat was out of control. When the disorienting shock of hitting the cold ocean in the darkness dissipated, she kicked toward the surface, following the bubbles up. Gasping and sputtering, she stared at the disappearing ship while treading water in its wake.
The fall hurt, but it hadn’t killed her, not like the cold water would. Already her arms and legs were becoming uncoordinated. Tingling along the nerves turned into stabs of pain. Her muscles contracted. Thinking became muddled.
In the distance, a lighthouse flashed a beacon before another wave swamped her.
Zahra kicked her way back to the surface, but a current dragged at her legs like a sea monster’s tendrils.
So close to home, and she would die out here. Alone. Killed by the elements she loved and researched. Maybe another underwater archaeologist would find and study pieces of her clothes and jewelry.
She’d survived two ocean crossings, a world war, and a stint working for the Office of Strategic Services.
Boston was only about fifty nautical miles away.
She’d read most deadly accidents happened close to home.
Stop and focus, Zahra.
Surfacing once more, she coughed and turned three hundred sixty degrees, looking for anything to help her. A buoy, a plank, floating garbage.
She wasn’t shivering anymore. Uh-oh, this was it. Her body was shutting down. Slowly, she descended below the surface. A flicker of light caught her attention. Was that a ship? Or rather the wreck of one? She must be hallucinating.
The depth of the water here wasn’t bad, considering. Only about twenty to thirty feet. Could it be Sea Wraith? Archeologists and fortune hunters had been searching for her for years. The figurehead poking from the sand and silt resembled a specter with its gaping maw and tendrils like an octopus. Spots developed in her vision. The last thing she saw was the shape of a man standing on the ship’s figurehead.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Purchase link Sea Hunter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRYJLLW1
Link to series https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BS42PKHZ
Link to Free Sample of series https://dl.bookfunnel.com/b1ytv2r7nq
What makes your featured book a must-read?
~What a fun read! Magic, treasure, and opposites having to work together? What more could you want? It's definitely a quick read you won't want to put down. It wasn't quite what I expected but it was so much better. I am very new to this author and definitely enjoyed their writing. It makes me want to keep reading this series and find more of the author's books. Goodreads reviewer, Once Upon a Library.
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $45 Amazon gift card:
Open Internationally.
Runs December 18 – December 31, 2023.
Winner will be drawn on January 2, 2024.
Author Biography:
D. V. Stone is an award-winning, multi-genre, traditionally and independently published author. She writes books people want to read. Whether romance or fantasy, contemporary or mid-grade, her stories are about the importance of friends and family. About overcoming obstacles often with humor.
Around the Fire is a popular weekly blog where she introduces both established and new authors giving an insider’s look into their lives and books as well as tidbits about her own life.
As a former Emergency Medical Technician, she volunteered in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. At the same time, she worked as a professional EMT in a women’s state prison. She was the proprietor of a coffee shop and a small restaurant/ice cream stand in the years that followed. After those, she was a manager in an animal emergency hospital, while her last position was in a human medical office. Now retired, she is a full-time author and incorporates her life experiences into her books.
When not behind the wheel of 2Hoots—a 41-foot long 13.2 feet high 5th Wheel camper, she rambles around town in Northern New Jersey in a white Camaro. She also loves travel and history.
D.V. is a wife to an amazing husband, mother to one son, and not your average grandma to three beautiful grands. A woman of faith, she believes and trusts in God.
“My greatest pleasures are spending time outside with friends and family, cooking over the open fire, sipping a glass of wine, and reading.”
Hali, her rescue dog, always reminds her to let readers know, “Woof, woof.” Which is loosely translated as support your local animal rescue.”
You can learn more about D. V. by following her on social media.
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