Guest Author: Lissa Matthews

Hi, y'all. For those who don't know me, my name is Lissa Matthews and I write contemporary romance and erotic romance. I write bad boys with tattoos, race car drivers, cowboys, and a little military. 

 I've always been fascinated by and in awe of our military. I never served, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. I had left over medical issues and anti-seizure medication still in my system at the time of enlistment. I was denied. 

 It was heartbreaking, but several things that Spring of my senior year in high school were. I never lost my love of the military though. I was never bitter about not being able to play in one of the most elite musical institutions ever...a military band. I have always been proud that at one time I had a fleeting chance. When I write military romance, it's with a lot of emotion. I have tears of my own that flow. Sacrifice and love. 

For the military men and women I've known and for the ones left at home to wait, that's what I've learned they got through. Sacrifice and love. I've only written two military romances. One from the point of being out and coming home with a loss to find an impossible love waiting. And the other of an impossible love that won't die. It's about the men, the women, the pain of separation, and the pleasure of being reunited. 

 But aside from writing a little military romance, I also try to give something back. When I give to charity or a cause, there's always a little meaning behind it, always a personal connection or some kind of link. So for the past couple of years, I've donated to a company called Green Beans Coffee. I donate money and soldiers have the chance for coffee, plain, lattes, or iced. Some send emails back saying thank you and though for me it's a small thing to do for those who do so much, I know they appreciate the gesture. The military has coffee addicts too. 

 I also support the Armed Forces Foundation. I'm a big NASCAR fan and I learned about this foundation through one of the drivers. It helps soldiers and their families get help for PTSD, but there are other facets that donations help with. 

 My next will military war dog support, United States War Dog Association. These animals are invaluable and deserve to be taken care of while they serve and after. They are soldiers just as humans are and they make sacrifices the same as their human counterparts. It doesn't hurt that I have a very soft spot for animals. 

 There are things we can do to love and honor those who serve, those who give everything. Maybe it's something as simple as a cup of coffee or a donation to help counsel through loss or help a puppy find a home once he's retired. But it's in those things that we can show how much we appreciate the service. 

The writing of military romance, though it's about happy endings and hot men and women, the real soldiers and their sacrifice is not lost on us and I'm sure it's not lost on our readers. 

Thank you to the ladies for having me. If you're new to me and would like more information on me or my books, you can visit my Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest pages. 

Melody Ashford has been in love with Vinny since she was sixteen. He told her to wait, come back to him when she was legal. Two years later she crawled into his bed and never wanted to crawl out. They spent one blissful summer together, before he left for boot camp and a life in the military. 

Vinny comes back to their little South Carolina town as often as he can, then leaves again for parts unknown. The heartache when he departs takes its toll and Melody passes the time with work, friends, and casual companionship from men she’s known all her life. 

 If Vin were a better man he’d set her free. But it would kill him to let go of the one thing more precious than life… 

Their love is volatile, and full of passion. No one has ever touched Melody the way Vinny does, but he’s never said the words, never asked the question that would ensure no one else ever had the right. He’s got secrets and missions he can’t share, and she’s got dreams of a life with him in her bed every night. Can they put both aside and simply love one another until the time is right, or is his request too little too late? 

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 Two years after his brother’s death in Afghanistan, Jethro is doing well. His handmade porch swing business is booming, his hip injury has healed and he’s still in love with Caitlyn. He knows he should resist her, but can’t, and pulls her into his darkly sensual world of sex and spankings. 

Caitlyn has grieved, created a life for herself and has finally come to terms with her need for Jethro, her dead husband’s brother. With no small measure of hesitation, she takes a fateful step—daring him to turn her and their chance at happiness away. 

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Guest Author Desiree Holt

Note: If you leave a comment today your name will go into the hat to win a Phoenix Agency t-shirt.

Happy day after the 4^th of July, the day we celebrate this country’s independence. And we should all give thanks to the various military branches whose troops labor every day to keep us free and safe. There is no grater deed to honor.

I try to honor them by using them as heroes in my novels. To me having a military man as the hero in a romance novel seems like a no-brainer.

There's just something about a man in uniform. Whether it's the pest control guy or a Navy officer in his dress blues. (Well, all right, maybe not the pest control guy.) A uniform will getcha' every time.

From mainstream to category, and Air Force to Special forces, the Military romance has come into its own. Written by women who have served in the military, such as Merline Lovelace, or who are just in love with these honorable, adventurous men, like Suzanne Brockmann, the military romance is here to stay.

Sure, the uniform is a big part of the appeal. But we are drawn to the special character of the military hero. Not only is this guy a prime example of the alpha male but also, he is very often a hero of superior intelligence. Besides the obvious appeal of the bold and frequently beautiful men of the military, what makes these heroes truly irresistible is a gentler side that eventually shows through all the brawn and courage. That softer, sensitive side; superior intelligence; and honor gives them that edge to make them true heroes.

When I created The Phoenix Agency I made each of the original four partners former military—air force, Special Forces, SEALs, Force Recon Marines. In the first book, JungleInferno, the hero is the leader of a Delta Force team they rescue from terrorists in the jungles of Peru. He then became the fifth partner.

In each of the subsequent books I continued to honor them by showing their bravery, strength and commitment to doing the right thing, even when it put their own lives in danger. In Feel the Heat, released today and available at all virtual bookstores, former SEAL Troy Arsenault must defend the hero against not one but two villains. Hope you enjoy his story.

Lauren Cahill lives as quietly as she can, protecting her ability as a psychic healer. But danger brings Troy Arsenault into her life—along with scorching sex and intense emotions. Resisting him isn’t even a question, in or out of the bedroom. He protects her from the evil stalking her even as he teaches her what erotic sex is all about. When she’s kidnapped, his world is turned upside down and he employs all the resources of The Phoenix Agency to rescue her. He won’t rest until she’s back safely in his life—and in his bed for the rest of their lives.

Excerpt:

When the doorbell rang, she was gripped by a sudden attack of nerves, her palms sweating for no reason. She wiped them on her jeans and looked through the peephole. What she saw was an identification folder with a photo ID and Troy Arsenault, Phoenix Agency, in black capital letters, along with the Phoenix logo.

“It’s me,” he called through the door. “Maybe you’d better let me in before your friends out here decide to join me.”

Friends? What friends?

She cracked the door a little, and her heart sank when she realized some of the reporters and photographers had wandered back closer to the house, apparently hoping to catch a glimpse of her. Or to get a quick shot at her before the cops chased them away. At least they were staying off of her lawn. A cruiser would be driving by again before too long and they’d get chased away. She swallowed hard against the sudden rise of panic.

I won’t give in to it. Everything’s going to be fine. They’ll go away, and I can have my life back.

Summer slid off the safety chain and opened the door just enough for Troy to slip through. When she closed it, she hooked the chain again and turned the deadbolt. Then she turned to the man in her foyer.

She was prepared to be polite, let him do his thing and send him on his way. But when she looked at the man standing there, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth and all her breath was trapped in her lungs. Faith had told her Troy Arsenault was a former SEAL and as far as Summer was concerned, he could have been the poster boy for recruiting. He was as tall as Mark, with a lean runner’s body and deeply tanned skin. His light brown hair was just a tad long, curling at the neck of his shirt, the kind of hair a woman wanted to run her fingers through.

But it was his face that was the most arresting. Ruggedly handsome, like Mark, high cheekbones were slashes on either side of his nose and eyes the color of melted chocolate studied her from beneath unexpectedly dark eyebrows and lashes.

Holy crap!

Her reaction to him was hot and totally unexpected and she made a deliberate effort to tamp it down. For one thing, he was only here to make sure she was safe. For another, her history with men was so unpleasant that she’d decided to swear off them completely. The last thing she needed was to have her ruthlessly controlled hormones decide to take a walk on the wild side. How terribly inconvenient that those hormones chose this particular moment to start galloping through her system again. Maybe she should have insisted harder to Faith that she didn’t need anyone.

“Looks like you’re pretty popular with the folks out there.” His mouth curved in a smile but his tone was dead serious. When she didn’t comment he asked, “You okay?”

Summer gave herself a mental shake. What was going on with her? She had a problem here and this man had kindly agreed to come check it out as a favor to her friends. This was business, not pleasure. She’d hoped for someone at least appealing to look at but Troy Arsenault had danger written all over him.

“Sorry.” She didn’t know if her hands trembled because of the mob outside or the nearness of this man. She shoved them into the pockets of her jeans.  “Thank you for coming over here, although I don’t think it was really necessary.”

“From what I saw outside, this may be a little more serious than you think.” He held out his hand. “Troy Arsenault. But you already know that, right? Nice to meet you, Summer.”

“Same goes. And the idiots outside will probably go away the next time a police car comes by.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah? Doesn’t look like it to me.”

She suddenly found herself tongue-tied. What happened next? “Um, would you like some coffee? I made a fresh pot.”

“Thanks. That would be nice.”

She led the way into her kitchen and motioned for him to have a seat at the table. Figuring the first rush of phone calls would have subsided by now, she picked up the receiver from the counter and replaced it in the cradle. Her hand hovered over it a moment as she waited to see if it rang. When it didn’t, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned to occupy herself taking down mugs and filling them. As she poured the coffee, she tried to focus on the situation and not the man. Troy Arsenault had an electric magnetism about him that made the air sizzle and scrambled her brain. And that was the last thing she needed right now.

 Desiree Holt

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Guest Author Denise A. Agnew

Celebrating the Military Hero: It’s In My Blood

Thanks so much to the ladies here for including me as a guest blogger. I very much appreciate it.

I’ve written quite a few military characters over the years, some who left the military because of

injuries, some who left to pursue other things, and even one or two who retired (yeah I don’t always write twenty-year-old heroes). A few of the stories are romantic suspense or have hints of suspense, and even others have paranormal elements. A few are historical characters. Can’t say that I just write one genre, because I love to mix it up.

I stumbled around trying to decide how to describe why I write so many military characters, because sometimes it’s difficult for a writer to think of their motivations. Of course military characters in novels can be wonderful heroes because of their courage, fortitude, and the possibility of significant angst. All great fodder for intriguing stories. But I think there’s a bigger connection for me personally.

I came to the conclusion that the military is just in my blood…literally. I grew up in Colorado Springs among several military bases. My father told me of his experiences during World War II and my brother served in the Air Force during Vietnam. Over the course of many years, I’ve also learned a ton about my family’s genealogy. Ancestors of mine served in the French and Indian Wars, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War (Union and Confederate), and World War II. Both of my grandfathers would have served in World War I but they had medical problems that disqualified them.

When I met my husband he was already in the army. I became a war bride when we thought he’d be deployed to the Middle East in 1991. My husband retired from the army after twenty years. So I guess I could say there’s no escaping the military, and I don’t want to escape.

So where can you find my military romances? Well, stop by my website at www.deniseagnew.com and read through all my blurbs! You’ll find military heroes in many of my books, even the stories that aren’t specifically military romance (such as Asylum II: Shadows Rise and Asylum III: ShadowsFall).  Some are erotic romance and some are not.

Soon I hope to publish a trilogy of novellas that feature three brothers, all in the military and the very dangerous situation that brings them close to three special heroines. Keep your eyes peeled for that. If you sign up for my newsletter you’ll be updated monthly on every new book that comes out. You’ll also find links to my Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks for spending time with me!

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