Take Me Deeper

In the first installment of Ashenden’s Texas Bounty series, the attraction between two strong-willed individuals sizzles hotter than the Texas heat despite their opposing agendas. Iris Callahan’s ex-boyfriend talked her into couriering drugs, so her need for love takes a backseat to more important needs: staying out of jail after skipping bail, dodging people who want to kill her, and regaining custody of her younger sister. Special Forces sniper Zane Redmond only returned to Texas to pay his respects to his brothers after missing his father’s funeral, but his older brother talks him into taking a job for the family bounty-hunting business. He’s startled when the bail jumper turns out to be young and beautiful, and he definitely didn’t expect to end up in a war with a drug cartel. Unwilling to let Iris go to jail, where the cartel’s agents could easily find and kill her, Zane decides to help her, and the two hide out until he and his brothers can come up with a plan. As sex turns to pillow talk, the lovers share their deepest pain and find emotional comfort in each other. There’s plenty of action and emotional turmoil; readers will clutch their hearts as they sit on the edges of their seats. Agent: Helen Breitwieser, Cornerstone Literary. (Oct.)