How Much for a Broken Heart by RJ Scott

A big welcome to RJ Scott as part of her release of How Much for a Broken Heart?

When the game turns deadly for a SEAL and his Ranger, love becomes the most dangerous mission of all.

In a single devastating morning, August’s life crumbles. His covert assignment derails disastrously as the family he’s meant to safeguard falls prey to the ruthless Cooper River cartel. The tragedy deepens when a little girl vanishes without a trace, leaving behind nothing but her favorite teddy bear—a silent witness to a kidnapping that makes no sense. As a former SEAL, August grapples with his failure and imagines killing those who broke everything he was supposed to protect. Each clue and every whisper in the criminal underworld could lead him to Annie. But with each step into darkness, August risks losing himself to the same violence that claimed her father.

Enter Shadow Team, and Ryder, a former Army Ranger tasked with rescuing Annie from a compound in the middle of the forest. He’s supposed to leave, but when he finds August tied up and bleeding, he risks everything to bring the broken SEAL home, but as bullets fly and alliances shift, it’s not just the mission that’s at stake—it’s their hearts.

GLBTQ, MM, Trope: Romantic Suspense, crime, single dad, action adventure, kidnap, left for dead
Series: Book 2 in the Shadow Team series
Length: 60,000
Cover Design: Meredith Russell
Buy Link | Goodreads

Shadow Team
Action Adventure, undercover, peril, on the run, romantic suspense

1. How Much for the Whole Night?
2. How Much for a Broken Heart?
3. How Much for a Life of Lies? Coming Summer 2024

Excerpt
I stumbled to a halt, my heart hammering at the horror unfolding before. The car was now a monstrous inferno and I saw Max and James lying motionless on the ground. Panic surged within me, a tidal wave threatening to drown all reason. I ran to the car, trying to reach the back seat.

If Annie was in there, she’d be gone already, but I might have a chance.

Strong arms grabbed me back.

“There’s a child in there!” I shouted… screamed… but no one let me go.

A firefighter shoved past me, a hose in his hands. He attacked the flames, water hissing and steam rising in billowing clouds. And I could do nothing but watch, not even able to reach James and Max as fire crawled toward them.

The heat was oppressive, pushing against us, and sweat beaded on my forehead, the heat baking my skin, but the physical discomfort was nothing compared to the fear clawing at my insides. When the flames had died enough, and the cops were swarming, I shook off the hold and kneeling beside James, I checked for any sign of life. Nothing. Two bullet holes—one in his temple, the other in his chest. A similar check on Max yielded the same result. They were gone. There were scrapes on James as if he’d been dragged from the car, but Max had his hand curled around a gun—he’d been trying to protect James.

And Annie too.

She had to have been in the car.

She couldn’t have survived this.

I’m going to be sick.

Then, amid the chaos and the noise of the fire being quenched, the firefighter found me. His face, obscured by his mask, turned towards mine, and I braced myself for the words I feared most.

“No sign of anyone else in the car.”

“What?”

“Car seat, but it’s empty, and we… ” he glanced down at the ground, “no human remains inside.” His voice was muffled but the words were unmistakably clear.

As the cops asked questions, and Molly arrived, a new panic took root. My mind raced, thoughts tumbling over each other. Where was Annie? Had someone taken her? The heat, the flames, the lifeless bodies of her father and Max—all of it paled in comparison to the cold dread that settled in my stomach.

Annie was gone.

Run for her life? Wandered away?

Or taken by whoever had killed her dad.

About the Author
RJ Scott, author of M/M romance.Writing love stories with a happy ever after – cowboys, heroes, family, hockey, single dads, bodyguards

USA Today bestselling author RJ Scott has written over one hundred and fifty romance books. Emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, single dads, hockey players, millionaires, princes, bodyguards, Navy SEALs, soldiers, doctors, paramedics, firefighters, cops, and the men who get mixed up in their lives, always with a happy ever after.

She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing.

The last time she had a week’s break from writing, she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a box of chocolates she couldn’t defeat.

About Anne Barwell

Anne Barwell lives in Wellington, New Zealand. She shares her home with a cat with “tortitude” who is convinced that the house is run to suit her; this is an ongoing “discussion,” and to date, it appears as though Kaylee may be winning. In 2008, Anne completed her conjoint BA in English Literature and Music/Bachelor of Teaching. She has worked as a music teacher, a primary school teacher, and now works in a library. She is a member of the Upper Hutt Science Fiction Club and plays violin for Hutt Valley Orchestra. She is an avid reader across a wide range of genres and a watcher of far too many TV series and movies, although it can be argued that there is no such thing as “too many.” These, of course, are best enjoyed with a decent cup of tea and further the continuing argument that the concept of “spare time” is really just a myth. She also hosts and reviews for other authors, and writes monthly blog posts for Love Bytes. She is the co-founder of the New Zealand Rainbow Romance writers, and a member of RWNZ. Anne’s books have received honorable mentions five times, reached the finals four times—one of which was for best gay book—and been a runner up in the Rainbow Awards. She has also been nominated twice in the Goodreads M/M Romance Reader’s Choice Awards—once for Best Fantasy and once for Best Historical. Anne can be found at https://annebarwell.wordpress.com

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