What's
a superheroine to do when her super soldier ex turns up alive after
more than fifteen years?
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Title:
Butterfly Ops
Author:
Jen Doyle
Series:
Butterfly
Ops
Genre:
Contemporary Fantasy with Romantic Elements
Release
Date: Sept
24, 2018
Length:
120,000 words
Blurb:
What's a superheroine to do when her super soldier ex turns up alive after more than fifteen years?
Lyndsey doesn't have much time to walk down memory lane before she and Ian find themselves thrown together to investigate the mysterious deaths of ten young men in the Canadian wilderness. How do such seemingly normal, healthy men's hearts just...stop?
With the hint of an evil spirit in the wind--and a whole lot of butterflies--there's no telling what Lyndsey and Ian are dealing with, including their own extensive baggage. Though seventeen years is a lot of life to live, there's one thing they can't deny: their attraction is as intense as ever. But is it just a spark that will burn itself out, or is it true love bringing them back together? When the force they're hunting turns its sights on them, the leap of faith required far exceeds either of their powers. But worrying about their future might be premature because one wrong move and they might not make it out alive.
What's a superheroine to do when her super soldier ex turns up alive after more than fifteen years?
Lyndsey doesn't have much time to walk down memory lane before she and Ian find themselves thrown together to investigate the mysterious deaths of ten young men in the Canadian wilderness. How do such seemingly normal, healthy men's hearts just...stop?
With the hint of an evil spirit in the wind--and a whole lot of butterflies--there's no telling what Lyndsey and Ian are dealing with, including their own extensive baggage. Though seventeen years is a lot of life to live, there's one thing they can't deny: their attraction is as intense as ever. But is it just a spark that will burn itself out, or is it true love bringing them back together? When the force they're hunting turns its sights on them, the leap of faith required far exceeds either of their powers. But worrying about their future might be premature because one wrong move and they might not make it out alive.
In Book
One of
the Butterfly
Ops trilogy,
Lyndsey and Ian reconnect fifteen years after seeing each other for
what each thought was the last time. That the spark is still there is
undeniable—but is it enough to get past the secrets and lies that
tore them apart the first time around? With old tensions rearing
their heads as new challenges arise, what at first seems to be a sure
path back to trust and happiness is rockier than it seems.
Note:
this is Book One in a serial trilogy. Book Two will be released in
Spring 2019; Book Three will be released in early Summer 2019. Books
should be read in order.
Excerpt
1:
What she should have been thinking about was spending three weeks in the woods with the next generation of the Army teams that had spent almost a year trying to kill her. Possibly even with some of the very same men, if Matt’s presence were any indication. That realization had used up all of five seconds of her mental energy, however. Army teams = men with guns who might still think of her as the enemy = she was going to have to watch her back even more so than in normal circumstances. Noted. Moving on.
What she should have been thinking about was spending three weeks in the woods with the next generation of the Army teams that had spent almost a year trying to kill her. Possibly even with some of the very same men, if Matt’s presence were any indication. That realization had used up all of five seconds of her mental energy, however. Army teams = men with guns who might still think of her as the enemy = she was going to have to watch her back even more so than in normal circumstances. Noted. Moving on.
What
she couldn’t get her mind off of, however, was Ian. Spending three
weeks with Ian. Even if he wasn’t going to actually be out in the
woods with her, she’d seen enough about how Matt had operated to
know they’d be connected, possibly even around the clock for that
whole time.
Oh,
God, she thought, sitting back in her seat. What if they really did
end up on this job together for who knew how long? She had no idea
how she’d manage to accomplish anything. It was all she could do
right now not to openly stare. And it certainly wasn’t helping
that—what was her name, Julianna?—was being totally flirty with
Ian while talking about weapons, no less. If there was anything
Lyndsey knew about Army guys, it was that they liked their toys.
Not
fair, Lyndsey thought, fighting the urge to glare. She couldn’t
exactly get all WWE and jump on the table and be like, Weapons? You
think you’re getting to him because you know the difference between
a Glock and a, um, not-a-Glock? Well, check this out. My body is a
weapon. If he’d stuck around he would’ve gotten to benefit from
that fully. What he did see, though, he totally liked. So top that
Miss Desk Job.
Unfortunately,
a somewhat irritated “Hmph” did slip out.
Conversation
stopped as heads turned her way. “Lyndsey?” Matt said, eyebrows
all bunched up into a frown. “Did you want to add something?”
Feeling
her cheeks grow alarmingly warm, Lyndsey looked down at the table in
front of her. “No,” she mumbled. “Sorry. Go on.”
Excerpt
2:
Of course, in all the years since the night they’d broken up, Lyndsey had realized it went a lot further than him just trying to get her to leave; he’d probably had a much better sense of what was to come after he did. Asking Lyndsey to come with him had been Ian’s last resort, what he’d fallen back on when she’d refused to back down. But remembering that about him—understanding how deeply he’d wanted to protect Lyndsey that night, it wasn’t too hard to guess what the last fight with his wife was about. “You wanted her to stay home. You didn’t want her on that flight.”
Of course, in all the years since the night they’d broken up, Lyndsey had realized it went a lot further than him just trying to get her to leave; he’d probably had a much better sense of what was to come after he did. Asking Lyndsey to come with him had been Ian’s last resort, what he’d fallen back on when she’d refused to back down. But remembering that about him—understanding how deeply he’d wanted to protect Lyndsey that night, it wasn’t too hard to guess what the last fight with his wife was about. “You wanted her to stay home. You didn’t want her on that flight.”
“I wanted
her to be the one who didn’t die,” he snapped. Then, clearly
aware of how defensive he sounded, his voice grew quiet. “It was
one of those things you say in the heat of it all, just to make
someone mad.” He paused before adding, “But I was too damn proud
to give in. Biggest mistake I ever made in my life. Thought I
couldn’t top the one I made with you. It turns out I was wrong.”
When he
looked up there were tears in his eyes. His hand was right there,
resting next to hers. How could she not reach out to him? She
couldn’t help it any longer. “Ian...”
She
supposed it wasn’t a shock that he pulled his hand back. The only
real surprise was that he didn’t walk away— and that he actually
kept talking.
“It took
a few months for it to fully hit. I totally lost it at Jack’s first
birthday party. It was the first time they let Matt leave the
hospital. Saw him in that wheelchair and whammo.” The detachment
was back; there was even a touch of the self-deprecating thing Ian
was so good at. “Handed Jack over to my mom and barely made it
upstairs. It wasn’t pretty. Mom’s been here ever since. My dad
retired two years later and came east. There you have it.” He
spread his hands open wide. “No more secrets.”
“I don’t
know what to say,” Lyndsey said quietly. “I’m so sorry.”
He picked
up his beer bottle and tossed it across the deck, sinking it
perfectly into the trashcan. There was the sound of the glass
shattering. “Yeah. So… Eight and a half years. The first few were
hell. It’s gotten better.”
“Thus all
the women in your life,” Lyndsey said, surprising herself with the
words she’d just spoken out loud.
Now why
would she go and say that? There was nothing but bad there.
He raised
his eyebrows in a ‘Really?’
kind of way. Part amused, part irritated, Ian answered, “I’ve got
plenty of women in my life.”
“Your
kids, your mom, Matt’s wife. Seems you’re missing a biggie.”
And, no,
she had absolutely nothing invested in the response to that.
“You,
too?” He seemed to be looking around for something else to throw.
“I don’t need anyone else trying to fix me up. I’m perfectly—”
“Happy,”
she finished for him. “Yeah. That’s what I tell them, too.
Doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true.” If she had to be perfectly
honest.
There was a
pause before he said, “So why aren’t you?” He folded his arms
in front of his chest, the smile on his face saying, Dare ‘ya.
“Happy, I mean.”
She
hesitated. Hadn’t quite expected him to throw it right back at her.
He’d never been one for asking questions; everyone who knew him
knew that.
“Thinking
about changing the subject?” he said, his smile broadening.
“Unh-uh. Your turn.”
Talk about
busted. Darn it. She shrugged. “I’ve been in love three times. I
know what it feels like. I don’t want to settle.”
“Three
times, huh?” Though his arms stayed folded, he turned so he was
leaning sideways against the wall, facing her. “You’ve got me
beat by one.”
She got
caught up for a minute, lost in his eyes, thinking about how much she
wanted to kiss him.
Stop
thinking about kissing him.
It wasn’t
her usual practice to jump on someone the moment he entered her
vicinity, even if he happened to be in the small club of men she’d
had an actual relationship with—a real, honest-to-goodness
relationship. Not the marking time one like she’d been in with
Steve for the past several months.
But her
body was busy making the point that it never had the chance to
properly say good-bye. Never had that one last tender kiss, one last
caress. Not even a run-of-the-mill hug.
The
nearness of him now did nothing to ease the ache. Really—all she
wanted was good-bye. The fact that she was at a point in her life
where the whole second chance thing had better odds? She wasn’t
going to entertain the thought. Couldn’t. No siree.
She made
herself blink and look away. “I should probably tell you I’m
sorry for asking, but...” Well... “I’m not.”
He grinned.
“You know? It actually feels good to talk about her. I don’t
much, not to an adult at least.”
Lyndsey
realized she was fidgeting—running her hands down her thighs
towards her knees, letting her feet kick against the wall. Very
deliberately, she rested her hands alongside of her, flat on the
ledge. “You talk to your kids about her? You don’t avoid
answering their questions?”
He shook
his head. “I swore to myself the night Abby died that I’d never
hold anything back from my kids. And these days I pretty much say
what’s on my mind no matter how dumb it sounds. Learned that lesson
the hard way.”
Good
policy, she thought, especially because it opened him up to the
question: “So what’s on your mind right now?” she asked
quietly. Breathlessly.
He looked
at her and then, cheeks reddening, quickly turned away.
“Set
myself up for that one, didn’t I?” Ian said it almost under his
breath, as though he were laughing at himself. Placing his hands on
the ledge, he looked past the buildings to the river. “I’m
thinking it was really nice to talk to you about Abby. That it’s
been too long since I’ve done that.” He hesitated and then bowed
his head, adding softly, “And that it seems like a total betrayal
of her memory, but all I want to do right now is kiss you.” He
turned back to her. “It’s all I’ve wanted to do since the
moment I saw you.”
Not wanting
to wait another second, Lyndsey put her hands on his face and drew
him to her. After a moment’s hesitation, his hands were on her
waist, on her hips, and his mouth opened. It didn’t take long for
his tongue to find all the old, familiar places.
Who was she
kidding? Forget good-bye. Hello.
Good. Freaking. Lord.
Author
Bio:
A
big believer in happily ever afters, Jen Doyle decided it was high
time she started creating some. CALLING IT, her four-book
baseball/contemporary romance/romantic comedy series, has been
winning awards since its inception, the most recent being the 2017
Best Banter Contest for Calling
It
and a nomination for the 2017 Harlequin Hero of the Year for Called
Out.
She also wrote the acclaimed HANSONS OF ST. HELENA series of novellas
in the St. Helena Vineyard Kindle World. Butterfly
Ops: Book One is
the first installment of the BUTTERFLY OPS trilogy, an epic love
story and her first in the paranormal realm.
Jen has an M.S. in Library and Information Science and, in addition to her work as a librarian, has worked as a conference and events planner as well as an administrator in both preschool and higher education environments (although some might say that there is very little difference between the two; Jen has no comment regarding whether she is one of the “some”). She is a member of the Romance Writers of America and is represented by Sarah E. Younger of the Nancy Yost Literary Agency.
Jen has an M.S. in Library and Information Science and, in addition to her work as a librarian, has worked as a conference and events planner as well as an administrator in both preschool and higher education environments (although some might say that there is very little difference between the two; Jen has no comment regarding whether she is one of the “some”). She is a member of the Romance Writers of America and is represented by Sarah E. Younger of the Nancy Yost Literary Agency.
You
can visit her online at the following places: Website
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