Title: Ricochet: Locked and Loaded (Ricochet, #1)
Author: Heather C. Leigh
Releasing March 29, 2015
Blurb
Rick "Ricochet" Brennan served eight years as an elite Marine special ops Force Recon soldier. After an injury, and the terrible memories from that night, he retires and goes to work for his former Command Officer, Howard "Mack" McEvoy, at his training center in Atlanta.
Sanctum MMA appears on the surface to be a normal gym, training elite fighters to be the best. Except each trainer, hand-picked by Mack, possesses a special background that allows Mack to run one of the best-kept secrets in the country.
When twenty-four year old Quinn Wallace finally escapes her abusive husband, she turns to her father’s old Marine Corps buddy, Mack, for help. Broken and skittish, Quinn finds herself surrounded by large, intimidating men— men who could easily overpower her. She avoids them the best she can, but when Rick turns out to be more than just a rough fighter with bruised knuckles, she finds herself wondering if she can allow herself to trust again.
Ricochet is a full-length novel to be released as three parts.
***This book contains hot sweaty men, sexy scenes for those over 18, and uncomfortable, sometimes violent scenes.***
Excerpt
Feeling ridiculous, Quinn ducked her head, turned, and practically ran down the hall to the break room. She shut the door behind her and sagged into it, leaning her forehead against the hard surface. “Shit,” she whispered to herself.
“You do that a lot.”
“Oh my God!” Quinn spun around to see the man with the striking aquamarine eyes, staring at her from his seat at the break room table. She choked, which made her cough, making it difficult to catch her breath.
Rick, his name is Rick.
The dark haired Adonis reclined in his chair, hands clasped behind his head as he smirked at Quinn. “You okay there?” She nodded, still unable to speak. “You scare too easily, doll.”
“What?” Quinn rasped as she dug her fingernails into her palms to stop her hands from trembling. She was still recovering from surprise he gave her, otherwise she would have scolded him for the doll comment... maybe. If she weren’t so frightened of the man.
“Every time I see you, you’re cursing under your breath.” Rick lifted an enormous bottle of water to his mouth and chugged down a third of it, never taking his sharp gaze off of Quinn’s. She noticed the large hand he had wrapped around the drink, knuckles scarred and bruised from fighting. That’s what all of these men did for a living, they fought or trained other men to fight. Those hands could hit… hard.
Danger! Her mind told her again. Quinn’s heart was racing frantically, feeling as if it may explode in her chest.
She shivered in response, but not from the fear she should be feeling from being so close to such a dangerous man. No, Quinn shivered because he was so damn hot she couldn’t stop imagining those large, rough hands running all over her skin. The way his lips surrounded the bottle and his throat working to swallow… she felt it in a way that made her uncomfortable. The fear mingling with desire had her flat-out confused.
Quinn unintentionally let her eyes roam over his broad chest, which was covered by only a thin, tight T-shirt that had the sleeves cut off and was damp with sweat. His sinewy arms were on full display, each muscle cut perfectly. The only mark on his beautiful tan skin was a black tattoo of a skull inside a circle with wings coming off of it and a knife or weapon behind. For a minute, she thought she recognized the tattoo, but she wasn’t close enough to know for sure.
I would love to lick that tattoo. Oh my god, where did that come from?
Feeling her neck and cheeks flame up from her deviant thoughts, Quinn quickly gathered herself, remembering that this cocky man was poking fun at her. Dangerous or not, that made her mad. She narrowed her eyes at his annoyingly gorgeous face.
“Well, you like to sneak up on people. It’s not nice. And, I’m not your doll.” She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to look confident when all she really wanted to do was run out of here and hide, or maybe run across the room and straddle his lap. She was equally torn between the two. So what did she do? Nothing. Her feet were rooted to the spot.
“Sneak up on people? You came in here, remember?” Rick pushed his chair back and got to his feet in one surprisingly nimble move for such a big man. Quinn swallowed when she got a good look at how tall he was, having to tilt her head back to see his face. The last time they spoke, she had been sitting while he leaned over her desk, his muscular body hidden behind the half wall that separated her from the lobby. Now that they were both standing, she could see that he was much, much taller than her petite five foot four inch frame. Her subconscious kept screaming at her.
Danger!
Quinn instinctively backed up, not stopping until she felt the kitchenette’s countertop dig into her lower back. Rick continued forward, only halting when there were just inches separating his large body from hers. He put his hands on the cabinets behind her, one on either side of her head caging her in. A small whimper fell from her lips and her breath stuttered. Quinn balled up her hands, running a fingertip over the ridge on her right palm. She shuddered from the thought of that scar, but when she remembered how she got it, she felt somewhat stronger. It was her badge of courage.
“And,” he said, close enough that she could smell him, a faint mixture of aftershave and sweat. It was potent enough to make her bite her lip so she wouldn’t try to lick his neck or bury her face in his chest and inhale that masculine scent. “Lots of people think I’m nice… doll.” Then he smirked.
Quinn’s mouth fell open at his arrogance.
Jerk!
Attraction or not, frightened or not, his slick overconfidence grated on her nerves. Braver than she’d felt for the first time in a long time, Quinn smiled at the egotistical man with the hypnotizing eyes. She refused to be another one of Rick’s groupies, and she was quite sure he had plenty of them falling for his easy charm and rugged perfection. “Yeah, well, those people that think you’re nice? I’m not one of them.”
Trembling, she ducked under Rick’s arm, unable to keep herself from noticing how hard his abs were as she nudged by. Pretending to be fearless, Quinn snatched her purse out of her locker, and left without saying another word.
RICOCHET SERIES
Book 1
RICOCHET: Lock and Loaded
Ricochet Lock and
Loaded is the first installment in the Ricochet serial and I love it.
“Ricochet” is Rick
Brennan’s handle that he received when serving in a Marine Corps special ops
unit. After an injury that ends his military career he comes home and
works for his former Staff Sergeant Mack McEvoy at Sanctum. Sanctum is a mercenary group disguised as a gym training MMA fighters.
Quinn Wallace seeks
refuge with Mack, a friend of her father, after escaping an abusive
husband. Rick is attracted to Quinn and wants to build a
relationship with her. Unfortunately Quinn doesn’t feel like she can
move forward until she resolves issues from her past.
What’s not to like
about a book with a group of hot ex-Marines with flaws that make them
interesting characters. Rick suffers with PTSD and sometimes has a
hard time getting through the night. In addition to his physical and emotional
scars the man has a big heart and the need to play protector.
The attraction between
Quinn and Rick is immediate but neither one of them is ready to act on
it. Rick wakes up when he sees that some of the other guys take an
interest in Quinn. It is the kick in the pants that he needs to make
his feelings known.
These two main
characters are great. I fell instantly in love with
them. They both have multiple layers that Ms. Leigh is gradually
peeling away to reveal all their inner most thoughts and feelings. I
can’t wait for the next installments releasing this week.
Ricochet Book 2: Friendly
Fire
Book 2 picks up six
weeks after book one. Rick is angry and
confused because Quinn didn’t talk to him before she left. In Quinn’s mind she is doing the right thing
because she is trying to tie off loose ends that are keeping her connected to
the past.
This book focuses on
the struggle the two main characters resolving issues they bring from their
past. Rick was raised by a father angry
because his wife left him. He raised his
sons to never trust women. Quinn the
first woman Rick wants to trust left him without explanation.
Quinn is trying to
shed the damage done by a father she believes blamed her for changes in his
life and the mental and emotional damage of an abusive husband. She is full of the guilt that many abused
women experience.
There is no doubt that
these two people are falling in love but can they get past all the baggage that
they both have in their past? Watching
them trying to resolve this question was a little frustrating for me. Reading a couple chapters it is difficult for
me to really relate to Quinn and Rick. I
really wanted to shake both of them, sit them down at a table and, yell talk. What is difficult is both Quinn and Rick have
these internal conversations about how much they want the other person then
they immediately say or do something stupid and/or hurtful.
Once their friends,
Mara and Clint get them to talk there is a lot of heat that started in book
one.
This is a good story. I’m grateful that I can go immediately to the
next book because it ends on a big cliffhanger as Quinn disappears and foul
play is indicating Quinn’s ex, Travis’ return.
Ricochet Part 3:
Extraction Point
For me this is the
best book of the series. Book three
picks up right after Quinn is abducted by her sick evil husband.
We learn a lot more
about Quinn in this book. She is a really
strong woman who suffered terribly at the hand of her husband. Regardless of how he tried to beat her down
she found a way to plan her escape.
Through flashbacks we see how she planned everything and what she did to
Travis.
Rick and the rest of
his team come together to rescue Quinn. They know how to plan operations and we see
these men at their best. The angst is thick as the team looks for Quinn and
poor Rick is kicking himself. He is a
great guy who looks back over the past few weeks hoping he has the opportunity
to make up for his mistakes with Quinn.
There is a little
unexpected twist at the end that I sort of expected but it worked well and
added a little something extra.
I absolutely love the
other members of Sanctum MMA. These guys are hot, hot, hot. I hope
Ms. Leigh has plans to bring these other guys to life in more books. I feel that there are more great stories to
tell here.
In summary this is a
really good series about a captivating couple with a lot to work through. The story is fast paced with a lot of action. The characters are realistic and attention-grabbing. We don’t really know too much about the other
members of the team except that they are all ex-military. What we do know is these men are a team and
work well together. The one woman, Mara
that we meet is a strong character and a good friend. This series is worth your time and is a good
read.
4.5 STAMPS
Ricochet: Locked & Loaded (Ricochet, #1)
Releasing April 5, 2015
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Releasing April 12, 2015
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About the Author
I grew up in New England and currently live outside Atlanta, GA with my husband, two kids, a French Bulldog and a pug. I'm a full-time procrastinator and a part-time everything else. I love the Red Sox, chocolate, and traveling. When I'm not writing, I'm dealing drugs legally as a pharmacist.
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