Yay! I'm thrilled to share wth you my new release, a contemporary beach romance, The Dangerous Deal.
Giveaway ends September 29th.
Hugs and thanks for the support,
A cancer survivor and single mom. A wounded army hero struggling to find new purpose. Can Emery and Reef find hope, healing, and a future together in Seaside Cove?
Emery Belle, the new owner of a health store in Seaside Cove, is a fighter. She has survived cancer and escaped from a cheating, abusive spouse and is now happily single and raising her two teenage children on her own. Relocating to the sanctuary of Saint de Leon Island and opening her own shop has been empowering and healing. When she is hired to help the fearsome General Reef Blackwell recover from a severe injury, the last thing on her mind is falling in love. She's terrified to open her heart again. But as she gets to know Reef, she wonders how she can possibly resist a man who protects her and makes her feel alive and valued.
Reef Blackwell, an imposing and dedicated army general, is forced into early retirement when he suffers a debilitating injury. The Army became his sole purpose in life after losing his wife and unborn son twenty years ago. Without his strength or military duty, he withdraws further into isolation and doubt. When the bright and hopeful Emery Belle upends his life and steals his heart, Reef finds a glimmer of hope.
Will Emery be able to heal Reef's body and restore his faith? Can Reef protect Emery from a vicious threat and heal her soul and heart?
Seaside Cove might be the only sanctuary where these two damaged souls can find relief, hope, renewed faith in their Savior, and a future together.
Don't miss this new heartwarming and suspenseful Christian romance suspense by USA Today Bestselling Author and Kindle All Star Cami Checketts.
Read the entire Seaside Cove Series with more to come!
The Perfect Pact by Kimberly Krey
The Beachside Bet by Taylor Hart
The Dangerous Deal by Cami Checketts
The Cliffside Cottage by Jennifer Youngblood
The Seaside Secret by Sarah Gay
Stay tuned for holiday additions and more.
The Dangerous Deal is an inspiring later-in-life, beach romance with suspense and humor that will appeal to romance readers of all ages looking for deep themes, a women's fiction feel, heartwarming family interactions, and a fast-pace.
Excerpt: The Dangerous Deal
Was there a gate? She searched but couldn’t find one. Minutes were ticking by, and she really didn’t want to upset the general by being late. Military men appreciated punctuality, according to Colter.
Tossing her yoga mat and her shoes over the fence, she zipped her bag and launched it over. Then she squatted low, leapt, and clamped her hands over the top of the fence.
“Yes! Ouch!” The jump was successful, but something sharp dug into her right palm. She would be picking a sliver out later.
Emery hauled herself up, proud of the fact she could pump out twenty pullups without taking a break. This vault over the fence was ‘light work’ as Laynee would say. Maybe the wood shard would stay attached to the fence and not her hand.
The voice was harsh, demanding, and all male. The husky timbre of that masculine voice shot a quiver through her that she’d never felt in her life.
Emery dropped to the ground, still on the beach side of the fence, and spun to face her accuser who stood twenty feet closer to the sand.
She stared up at him, hating that she barely cleared five-five and was ‘scrawny and had the body of a teenage boy’ according to Harrison. If only she could be five-ten and curvy like Juliette.
The man standing before her was well over six feet. His voice fit the broad, masculine, and attractive planes of his face and body. All male for sure. She liked that he had lines on his face and his skin wasn’t smooth. He was at least a few years older than her, and he wore his age well.
Her stomach did an unexpected flip. Her pulse spiked. Ah, garbage … She was drawn to him.
It wasn’t smart on any level, but she couldn’t deny his appeal. Not even Juliette would blame her for noticing how attractive he was—well-built, handsome, short dark hair and a trimmed beard. If this was her guy, he looked like a general. She almost stood at attention and saluted.
Her guy? No man was her guy, except Colter who was ‘her boy’ according to Laynee.
Instead of being a smart aleck and saluting, Emery pasted a bright smile on her face and lifted a hand that smarted from the wood shard. It had decided to stay with her. A souvenir.
Her hand trembled, but she squared her shoulders. She’d dealt with the likes of Harrison. This guy couldn’t intimidate her. “Hi. I’m Emery Belle. Are you the … groundskeeper?”
“No.” He scowled more fiercely.
“General Blackwell’s bodyguard?”
A flash of humor flickered through his deep brown eyes, but he shook his head. “I can defend myself.”
She pasted on a smile, her stomach rolling. This handsome, enticing, and well-built man was her appointment, wasn’t he? He was more Russell Crowe in Gladiator than Mel Gibson in Braveheart. Every bit as appealing as either man.
Mr. Gerald had a lot of explaining to do. She was certain he was trying to set them up. The gentleman had left out a lot of details. But then she hadn’t thought to ask all the questions now swirling in her mind.
“General Blackwell?” she squeaked out.
“How do you know my name?” he challenged, arching an imperious eyebrow.
“You’re very …” She looked over his well-built and muscular body. “… young for a general, aren’t you?”
“Retired general,” he muttered.
“I have an appointment with you at six p.m.”
He stared her down. “You’re late.”
He actually gave her a partial smile. It made him more enticing. Dang.
“Difficult house to find.” He lifted his right hand toward his mansion.
“Did Gerald not even tell you about the appointment?”
“Gerald?” His brow wrinkled. “What has he done now?”
“Your friend Gerald Lavity set this all up.”
“How dare he?” General Blackwell shook his head and drew in a long-suffering breath. “Friend. More like self-appointed guardian,” he muttered. He drew himself up to his full height. He was imposing and inspiring. “I apologize, Miss Belle, but I do not participate in … appointments.” He raised one eyebrow and looked her over very, very slowly.
She wilted under his gaze. Did he concur with Harrison that she was ‘aged skin and bones’?
Surprisingly, there wasn’t disgust in his eyes but … appreciation. That wasn’t correct, was it? Honest truth, since the divorce she’d stopped looking too deeply into any unrelated man’s eyes. She had no clue what men thought of her.
The way this man studied her with a raw longing, that he also seemed to be trying to hide, made stomach hop and her mouth go dry. There was also a dose of disbelief radiating off him that made her stomach flip the other direction.
Was he saying … ? No! He wouldn’t dare think she’d be here for … that.
“You’d better back up a step and watch what you’re thinking,” she warned. He’d insulted her and his friend Gerald. How dare Mr. Gerald? How dare he?
“How do you know what I’m thinking?” The nerve, but she could see there was a twinkle in his deep brown eyes.
Ah, thank heavens. He was giving her a hard time. She’d grown up on a steady diet of sarcasm and wit. She instantly felt better about the interaction, playing on a familiar field.
“Far be it from me as a simpering female,” she fluttered her eyelash extensions to emphasize the point, “to understand what the great male specimen might be thinking.”
His mouth fell open for half a beat and she worried he might not understand the joke. Weren’t men always joking about how they couldn’t understand females? She would never simper or call him ‘great’. Yet he was impressive and off-the-charts attractive to her.
Emery didn’t know if he was going to tease back, storm away, or tell her off. It could go any direction. Maybe sixty-forty on the telling-her-off slant.
She held his gaze with a challenge in her own, placed her smarting right palm over the bulge of money, and silently prayed. She needed the money and, more importantly, she needed to give back, to use her expertise and years of experience to help someone else. Something deep in the dark eyes of this hardened, defensive, and enticing man said … he needed her.
That thought terrified her.
