Title: The Angel and the SEAL
Author: Petie McCarty
Genre: Contemporary Romance with Suspenseful Elements
Book Blurb:
He seduced her and vanished. Now he's back . . . Navy SEAL Sean MacKay's teammate is murdered after stealing a deadly nerve-gas formula from Syrian terrorists. Naval Intelligence believes MacKay's teammate was a traitor and shipped the stolen formula to his sister in the states for safekeeping. MacKay is ordered to find the sister before the terrorists do and to retrieve the stolen formula at all costs. Foreclosure looms for Cory Rigatero as she fights to keep her rustic resort near Mt. St. Helens afloat after her brother deserted her to join the SEAL Teams. Cory's whole world dives into a tailspin when Sean MacKay shows up at her resort with the news of her brother's death and the wild suspicion her brother sent her traitorous classified documents. No way will Cory trust MacKay—the man who once seduced her and then vanished into the night without a trace. The Angel and the SEAL . . . a cozy romantic mystery with suspense from the Mystery Angel Romances series.
An angel meddles in every romance waiting for you to figure out who . . . Series 1st Place--2019 Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewer's Choice Awards 2019 N.N. Light Book Award--Military Romance
Excerpt:
"Why did I let you talk me into this?" Cory asked as Sarah George wheeled her Honda into the parking lot at Opie's Tavern on Friday night.
Sarah had been Cory's best friend since grade school and the complete antithesis to Cory: curvy where Cory was slender, short where Cory was tall, blond where Cory was a brunette, rough curls to Cory's straight silk. And right now, her best friend stared at her -- appalled -- her expression clearly visible in the lights from the parking lot.
"You need to get out more," Sarah told her, "especially after the day you've had."
"Tell me about it."
Cory's headache was still trying to fight past the ibuprofen she had taken after the evidence techs had left. The sheriff had sent his techs out as soon as he got back to town with orders to go over the rental building where the kayaks were stored. No chance of fingerprints on the kayaks after their extended submersion in the lake.
"I still can't believe someone would sabotage your kayaks."
Cory sighed heavily. "Me either."
"Which is why I dragged you out tonight. Plus, we haven't been out together in weeks. You can't spend all your time working at that resort. Which reminds me, does poor Garth always howl like that when you lock him in the house?"
Cory laughed. "Only when Vern and Cook are both gone for the evening, too. Remember, I got him as a rescue, and I think he suffers from separation anxiety."
"What about your new employee? Couldn't he watch Garth?"
Cory shook her head. "I heard Mac leave around sunset. Took off on his motorcycle."
"Maybe he's here," Sarah suggested hopefully.
Cory sighed. Her friend hated for Cory to have secrets, and right now, Mac was a big one since she knew little or nothing about him and hired him anyway. She couldn't explain to Sarah how she felt as though she'd known Mac for years rather than days. She couldn't even explain it to herself.
The two of them had worked side by side almost the entire day. Whatever job she had, Mac had appeared as though he knew she needed him. The help had started with the bags of mulch she was loading into a small wagon in the barn.
Cory hooked the wagon to the smaller John Deere riding tractor intending to start at Lucky's cabin and remulch the flower beds now that the tulip and daffodil bulbs were coming up. She hoisted the first of the two-cubic-foot bags into the wagon and bent over to pick up another. Muscular arms closed over hers and around the bag.
"Let me get that for you."
Mac's face appeared at her shoulder, his cheek close enough that if she moved her lips a very few inches she could plant a kiss there.
Now where had that thought come from? Easy, girl.
The rich smell of man, out-of-doors, and a hint of the morning's after-shave had wafted over her and had her thinking sensual thoughts like cheek-smooching. Okay, way more sensual than just cheeks as her gaze zeroed in on lips made for kissing. Lips still so soft and noticeable though surrounded by the close-clipped dark beard. Lips that easily curved into a smile capable of stealing her breath away. Lips like that had to be made for kissing. His eyes studied hers intently.
Dear Lord don't let this man read my thoughts. They'd set his hair on fire.
As though he had heard, his sexy lips curved into that breath-stealing smile.
Kiss me. Please, kiss me.
The wayward thought made her gasp in surprise.
He shifted back a few inches. "It's okay. I've got it."
Great. He'd heard. How embarrassing. She had gasped like an adolescent teen.
He straightened and pulled the bag into his arms, then dropped it into the wagon. "These are too heavy for you."
"Not really. I'd have to load them if you weren't here."
"But I am here."
His voice had gone husky, and her skin tingled. He was only inches away again. When had he moved? So quick, so silent.
His predatory-blue eyes trained on her, skimming over her face -- over her -- as though memorizing the way she looked. Or was he searching for answers to unasked questions?
Her pulse rioted. Her palms grew clammy.
Mac leaned closer.
She held her breath.
"I... " He hesitated.
What? Tell me.
Tell me or kiss me.
One or the other.
He cleared his throat. "I want to thank you for the job."
She let the pent-up air out of her disappointed lungs as he eased down to grab another mulch bag. What had just happened? She had almost kissed her new temporary laborer in the barn on his second day of work. That was nuts.
So why did it feel so right?
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The Angel and the SEAL is Book 3 in the Mystery Angel Romances series. These stand-alone love stories—cozy romantic mysteries with suspense—come with different characters, but each has a guardian angel hidden in the plot, and it's up to the reader to figure out who . . .
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Author Biography:
Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—"The Most Magical Place on Earth"—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time. These days Petie spends her time writing sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and her cozy-mystery-with-romantic-suspense series, the Mystery Angel Romances.
Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in No Angels for Christmas.
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