A Heroes story by RJ Scott

A MelanieM Review: Deacon’s Law (Heroes #3) by RJ Scott

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Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Undercover cop Deacon Shepherd lost everything trying to maintain his cover – the man he loved and the future he craved. He walked away and never looked back because it was the only way to keep Rafe alive.

The last thing he needs is to be dragged back in that world, but an attempt on Rafe’s life is enough to make him risk his heart again.

Rafael ‘Rafe’ Martinez wakes up in hospital, the victim of a hit and run. He’s stunned when the first face he sees is that of the man who betrayed him and left him for dead three years before. Witness protection had stripped Rafe of his name and now it seems someone from his past wants him dead. The only way he can stay alive is to trust the man who tried to kill him and then broke his heart. But how can he ever trust Deacon, and how can Deacon protect Rafe without falling in love all over again?

Deacon’s Law is the third in the Heroes series by RJ Scott and it has everything you’ve come to expect from this series and author.  It has a suspense filled story,  multiple murders and a couple at odds with each other although they’ve fallen in love and an villain after them, whether it’s a person or organization.  In this case, a bit of both.

I love this series and the first two stories totally did it for me, as did their couples.  Deacon Shepherd?  Hot, hot, hot!  A undercover cop who went too deep inside an operation that was  bad in every way; drugs, murder, and, child trafficking, Deacon ended up getting emotionally involved in his last case, and has been paying for it ever since.  R.J. Scott gets us inside this complicated man.  She gives him layers, the hardness necessary to do the job he does as well as the pain and regret for the things he does and the life he feels he cannot have.  He’s one of those “let me be your bandage” men that readers always  connect with immediately.

Then there’s Rafe Martinez, who honestly keeps doing so many irresponsible things throughout this story I can’t even remember what his “new” name is under the Witness Protection program is.  He’s my problem here.  I liked everything else. I liked the storyline.  The crazed nutcase from the past, the suspense and the heart-stopping chases that RJ Scott does so  well.  All great!  But Rafe who goes after his uncle by himself to begin with, then disobeys WITSEC commands endangering everyone around him, and then continues to do so.  I won’t even go into his stubbornness about his protection detail because I get that.  No, I don’t get him withholding information on the location to look for said nutcase because it might affect deceased dad’s reputation (there are kidnapped children potentially involved here) or the way he escaped after being hit by a car, even with a heavy cast and wounded.   I just wanted to shake him myself.   So yes, there’s that.

Luckily, the story’s rocketing suspense pulled me in as did Deacon that I sort of went along with the romance.  Hey, we have know those couples where we only like one half of them right? Plus I got Kayden from the Sanctuary series which remains one of my all time favorite RJ Scott series, which is always a delight.  There is a happy ending that ties up all the loose plot threads in such a way that I wondered if this wasn’t the end for Heroes.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Can you read this as a stand alone?  I guess so but having the other books as a foundation certainly helps.  And not everyone will find they have the problems with Rafe that I did.  Others will absolutely adore him.  I found Deacon’s Law a fun, suspenseful read and a neat third installment to the Heroes series.  Yes, I recommend it as I do all the books in the series.

Cover art by Meredith Russell works for the characters and story, as well as branding the series.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | KOBO | iTunes

Book Details:

ebook
Published October 18th 2017 by Love Lane Books Limited
Edition Language English
URL http://rjscottauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/deacons-law.html

Series Heroes :

Heroes Series

A Reason To Stay (Book #1) – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Last Marine Standing (Book #2) – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Review Tour and Giveaway for Deacon’s Law (Heroes #3) by RJ Scott (excerpt)

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Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | KOBO | iTunes
 
Cover Design: Meredith Russell
 
Length: 50,000 words approx.
 
Heroes Series
 
A Reason To Stay (Book #1) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Last Marine Standing (Book #2) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
 
Blurb
 

How can you trust the man who tried to kill you?


Undercover cop Deacon Shepherd lost everything trying to maintain his cover – the man he loved and the future he craved. He walked away and never looked back because it was the only way to keep Rafael alive.


The last thing he needs is to be dragged back in that world, but an attempt on Rafael’s life is enough to make him risk his heart again.


Rafael ‘Rafe’ Ramirez wakes up in the hospital, the victim of a hit and run. He’s horrified when the first face he sees is that of the man who betrayed him and left him for dead three years before. Witness protection had stripped Rafe of his family and friends, and now it seems his sacrifice to bring his Uncle to justice was for nothing.


Someone wants Rafe dead, and the only way he can stay alive is to go with the murdering drug dealer who broke his heart. But how can he ever trust Deacon, and how can Deacon protect Rafe without falling in love all over again?


 

Excerpt
 

Rafe opened his eyes, attempting to focus on the ceiling above him. He tried to lift his hand, but it felt as if there was lead in his veins, everything heavy and he couldn’t move. They’d told him he was getting better, so what the hell had happened? Had he relapsed? Why was he convinced that they’d taken him somewhere in an ambulance? That he’d leaned against a leather jacket that smelled of sunshine and soap? He blinked until the ceiling finally coalesced into the tiles he was familiar with.


Only there were no tiles.


Instead, the ceiling was a smooth white, and there were no strip lights, just a lampshade in a curious shade of blue. He blinked again. This didn’t make sense. 


But when he opened his eyes, nothing had changed. The ceiling was still white, the lampshade blue, and the drapes at the window matched the shade. The drapes. There were drapes at the window. Confusion morphed into panic and he turned his head to the right to get a better feel for where he was and he saw…him.


Sprawled awkwardly in the chair, his head back, long limbs this way and that, clearly too big for the chair, was a specter from a past that wouldn’t leave him alone.


Deacon.


Intense fear sliced into Rafe.


They’d found him, had him strapped to a bed…was it Deacon who’d tracked him down and driven a car at him? He was paralyzed with a fear that made it hard to breathe, and he yanked at his hand, hoping to escape his restraints, only he wasn’t tied down, there was no rope. Instead his hand came up fast and he rolled sideways. Catching himself and coming off the bed, forgetting the fact that his leg was in a cast and toppling sideways, falling with a crash into a cabinet. He flailed but couldn’t stop himself falling, and he knew this was it – this time he was really going to die.


Deacon was up and at his side in an instant, and Rafe wanted to shut his eyes, wanted to block out seeing Deacon’s face again as he died, but he had to watch. He wanted Deacon to see his fear, and maybe that would stop him; maybe he could make Deacon stop and think.


“Shit, Rafe— Craig,” Deacon said, and reached for him, grasping his arms.


Terror became ice inside him, and Rafe stopped fighting; like a deer caught in headlights, he froze.


“What happened?” A second man stood in the doorway, someone Rafe didn’t know – tall, dark and dangerous-looking. Maybe this new arrival could stop Deacon?


“Help me,” Rafe forced out, looking past Deacon, scrambling to stand as the ice melted and he pushed himself to move.


“He woke up, saw me, and fell out of bed,” Deacon said, and the other man came right in. There were two of them, and there was little Rafe could do to get away. There and then, he screwed his eyes shut; nothing was going to save him now.


But there was no pain, no bullet. Instead, the two men helped him to stand, and then he felt the bed at the back of his thighs and they sat him down.


“Are you okay?” Deacon asked. Even with his eyes shut, Rafe recognized his voice. He would never forget the tone of it, or the coldness of the man who’d tried to kill him. He said nothing.


“Open your eyes,” the other man asked.


No.


“Craig? Rafe? My name is Mac. We’re here to help you.”


But fear was choking him and he couldn’t breathe. “No,” he managed between attempts to inhale enough oxygen not to pass out.


“He’s panicking. What the hell did you do, D?”


“Tried to fucking kill him three years ago, remember?”

Author Bio

RJ Scott is the bestselling romance author of over 100 romance books. She writes emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men and women who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end 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 bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.



mailto:rj@rjscott.co.uk
www.rjscott.co.uk/
www.facebook.com/author.rjscott?ref=ts&fref=ts
www.goodreads.com/author/show/3432558.R_J_Scott
twitter.com/Rjscott_author
www.librarything.com/author/scottrj

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A MelanieM Review: Last Marine Standing (Heroes #2) by R.J. Scott

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Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Former Marine Recon, Mackenzie ‘Mac’ Jackson has secrets. The things he did for his country, the things he saw, must never be spoken about. Until, that is, his team is targeted.

A shift in political alliances means one particular mission undertaken by Mac and his Fire Team needs to be wiped from the history books. Starting with the team itself.

Forest Ranger Samuel Larson wants to find the Marines who saved his life. He just wants to say thank you. What he can’t know is that he’s walking into a firestorm of betrayal and murder.

When Samuel arrives at Mac’s place he throws Mac’s plans for hiding out of the window. Abruptly Mac has to protect a man who threatens his heart, only this time he can’t be sure he will succeed in keeping Sam alive.

When the people you trusted turn on you, when you are the last one standing, should you take your secrets to the grave? Or make the murderers pay?

Heroes is turning out to be an incredible series.  A spinoff from the amazing Sanctuary stories,A Reason To Stay hooked me in with RJ Scott delivering romance, murder mystery along with  her hardened SEAL on leave and his second chance at love police officer.  Last Maine Standing though kicks it all into high gear.  There’s an absolutely horrific mission in the past that starts the story.    I’ll say no more about that.

But these two men haunt each other and the reader with their combined pasts.

On top of that, RJ Scott has thrown a conspiracy of deceit and murder against our heroes.  It’s heinous, it’s murky, and the suspicions and suspense of everyone drives this story, sometimes pushing the romance aspect to a secondary element.   Still, RJ Scott is so great with it comes to interpersonal dynamics that even when suspense and espionage is driving a certain portion of the story, she gets to work in the magnetic attraction and heat that brings these two men together and makes their relationship work.   You certainly understand by Sam needs to find Mac after all these years and you can see Mac’s need as well.  The balance works.

Really, I thought this story had it all.  Action, drama, hot men, sex and yes, romance.  I loved this story.  Heroes is a wonderful series and Last Marine Standing is the prime example why.  I highly recommend both.

Cover art by Meredith Russell is terrific.

Sales Links:  RJ Scott Books | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 211 pages
Published October 8th 2014 by Love Lane Books (first published October 6th 2014)
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesHeroes #2

 

Release Blitz and Giveaway Tour – Deacon’s Law (Heroes #3) by RJ Scott

Standard
 
Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | KOBO | iTunes
 
Cover Design: Meredith Russell
 
Length: 50,000 words approx.
 
Heroes Series
 
A Reason To Stay (Book #1) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Last Marine Standing (Book #2) – Amazon US | Amazon UK
 
Blurb
 

How can you trust the man who tried to kill you?

Undercover cop Deacon Shepherd lost everything trying to maintain his cover – the man he loved and the future he craved. He walked away and never looked back because it was the only way to keep Rafael alive.

The last thing he needs is to be dragged back in that world, but an attempt on Rafael’s life is enough to make him risk his heart again.

Rafael ‘Rafe’ Ramirez wakes up in the hospital, the victim of a hit and run. He’s horrified when the first face he sees is that of the man who betrayed him and left him for dead three years before. Witness protection had stripped Rafe of his family and friends, and now it seems his sacrifice to bring his Uncle to justice was for nothing.

Someone wants Rafe dead, and the only way he can stay alive is to go with the murdering drug dealer who broke his heart. But how can he ever trust Deacon, and how can Deacon protect Rafe without falling in love all over again?

Excerpt
 

Rafe opened his eyes, attempting to focus on the ceiling above him. He tried to lift his hand, but it felt as if there was lead in his veins, everything heavy and he couldn’t move. They’d told him he was getting better, so what the hell had happened? Had he relapsed? Why was he convinced that they’d taken him somewhere in an ambulance? That he’d leaned against a leather jacket that smelled of sunshine and soap? He blinked until the ceiling finally coalesced into the tiles he was familiar with.

Only there were no tiles.

Instead, the ceiling was a smooth white, and there were no strip lights, just a lampshade in a curious shade of blue. He blinked again. This didn’t make sense. 

But when he opened his eyes, nothing had changed. The ceiling was still white, the lampshade blue, and the drapes at the window matched the shade. The drapes. There were drapes at the window. Confusion morphed into panic and he turned his head to the right to get a better feel for where he was and he saw…him.

Sprawled awkwardly in the chair, his head back, long limbs this way and that, clearly too big for the chair, was a specter from a past that wouldn’t leave him alone.

Deacon.

Intense fear sliced into Rafe.

They’d found him, had him strapped to a bed…was it Deacon who’d tracked him down and driven a car at him? He was paralyzed with a fear that made it hard to breathe, and he yanked at his hand, hoping to escape his restraints, only he wasn’t tied down, there was no rope. Instead his hand came up fast and he rolled sideways. Catching himself and coming off the bed, forgetting the fact that his leg was in a cast and toppling sideways, falling with a crash into a cabinet. He flailed but couldn’t stop himself falling, and he knew this was it – this time he was really going to die.

Deacon was up and at his side in an instant, and Rafe wanted to shut his eyes, wanted to block out seeing Deacon’s face again as he died, but he had to watch. He wanted Deacon to see his fear, and maybe that would stop him; maybe he could make Deacon stop and think.

“Shit, Rafe— Craig,” Deacon said, and reached for him, grasping his arms.

Terror became ice inside him, and Rafe stopped fighting; like a deer caught in headlights, he froze.

“What happened?” A second man stood in the doorway, someone Rafe didn’t know – tall, dark and dangerous-looking. Maybe this new arrival could stop Deacon?

“Help me,” Rafe forced out, looking past Deacon, scrambling to stand as the ice melted and he pushed himself to move.

“He woke up, saw me, and fell out of bed,” Deacon said, and the other man came right in. There were two of them, and there was little Rafe could do to get away. There and then, he screwed his eyes shut; nothing was going to save him now.

But there was no pain, no bullet. Instead, the two men helped him to stand, and then he felt the bed at the back of his thighs and they sat him down.

“Are you okay?” Deacon asked. Even with his eyes shut, Rafe recognized his voice. He would never forget the tone of it, or the coldness of the man who’d tried to kill him. He said nothing.

“Open your eyes,” the other man asked.

No.

“Craig? Rafe? My name is Mac. We’re here to help you.”

But fear was choking him and he couldn’t breathe. “No,” he managed between attempts to inhale enough oxygen not to pass out.

“He’s panicking. What the hell did you do, D?”

“Tried to fucking kill him three years ago, remember?”

Author Bio


RJ Scott is the bestselling romance author of over 100 romance books. She writes emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men and women who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end 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 weekís break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldnít defeat.


mailto:rj@rjscott.co.uk
www.rjscott.co.uk/
www.facebook.com/author.rjscott?ref=ts&fref=ts
www.goodreads.com/author/show/3432558.R_J_Scott
twitter.com/Rjscott_author
www.librarything.com/author/scottrj

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In Our Author Spotlight: RJ Scott and her latest release, Last Marine Standing (guest blog & contest)

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blogtour

 

spotlight on booksLast Marine Standing cover

In Our Author Spotlight:

 RJ Scott on Heroes,

Schedules and the

Last Marine Standing!

 RJ Scott is here today to talk about her latest book, Last Marine Standing.  She brought along an excerpt to read and a contest to enter! Now for a closer look at Last Marine Standing…

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The second in my Heroes series, Last Marine Standing, was released yesterday. I think this is about my 68th book (think of the celebration for book 69!). I sayLast Marine Standing cover I think this is book 68, because there have been some shenanigans in the past with publishers, and I’ve also pulled a couple of my stories. Anyway I digress.

Yesterday my book came out, tomorrow I fly to GRL (or the day after depending when this is posted!). I had someone say to me the other day that they thought I didn’t get nervous when I have a new book out, because hey, I’m on book 68 (is). Someone else mentioned that at last year’s GRL I looked confident, if at times quiet. I should imagine the quiet times were when I had wine and a quiet corner, ROFL.

I can address all of this. Every single release I get nervous about. Every one. I worry people will hate, I worry people will laugh, I worry that I should have given up a long time ago. Will the book sell? Will it get into the 100 Gay on Amazon, will it go top 50, top 10. And even if it gets there will it stay there? So yeah, worrier = RJ Scott.

Then GRL. I can quite happily ‘do’ confident. I can stand up in front of people, although I can’t be held responsible for what comes out of my mouth. I can make jokes (at Amber’s expense), I can laugh, I can talk coherently for a while. Doesn’t mean that inside I’m not bricking it (English term = terrified). So yeah, terrified = RJ Scott.

But, I wouldn’t swap these experiences where I am dragged out of my comfort zone. I love being a writer and all that this entails.

I’ll love meeting every one of you at GRL, even if I am crap at putting names to faces, and I’ll love to talk.

By the time you read this I’ll be over my release day nerves. I’ll be in my happy place with wine and packing and excitement. Just the one day mind you, then I’ll be inconsolably nervous about GRL… it never stops.

How do you relax when you get stressed? Are you like me with a glass of wine?

Last Marine Standing

Book two in the Heroes series. Book 1 – A Reason To Stay

For all buy links when they become available click here:

http://rjscottauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/SEALHeroes2.html

Author Bio

RJ Scott has been writing since age six, when she was made to stay in at lunchtime for an infraction involving cookies. She was told to write a story and two sides of paper about a trapped princess later, a lover of writing was born.

As an avid reader herself, she can be found reading anything from thrillers to sci-fi to horror. However, her first real true love will always be the world of romance where she takes cowboys, bodyguards, firemen and billionaires (to name a few) and writes dramatic and romantic stories of love and passion between these men.

With over sixty titles to her name and counting, she is the author of the award winning book, The Christmas Throwaway. She is also known for the Texas series charting the lives of Riley and Jack, and the Sanctuary series following the work of the Sanctuary Foundation and the people it protects.

Her goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.

Author Contacts:

 

Last Marine Standing

Last Marine Standing Blurb:

Last Marine Standing cover

 

When the people you trusted turn on you, when you are the last one standing, should you take your secrets to the grave? Or make the murderers pay?

Former Marine Recon, Mackenzie ‘Mac’ Jackson has secrets. The things he did for his country, the things he saw, must never be spoken about. Until that is, his team is targeted.

A shift in political alliances means one particular mission undertaken by Mac and his Fire Team needs to be wiped from the history books. Starting with the team itself.

Forest Ranger, Samuel Larson III wants to find the Marines who saved his life. He just wants to say thank you. What he can’t know is that he’s walking into a firestorm of betrayal and murder.

When Samuel arrives at Mac’s place he throws Mac’s plans for hiding out of the window. Abruptly Mac has to protect a man that threatens his heart, only this time he can’t be sure he will succeed in keeping Sam alive.

When the people you trusted turn on you, when you are the last one standing, should you take your secrets to the grave? Or make the murderers pay?

 

 Last Marine Standing Excerpt

Bear put his hand on his hip and sashayed a little, which looked ridiculous.

Mac shoved him. “I will kill you.”

Bear squared his shoulders and smirked. “You could try.”

Mac weighed the pros and cons. Bear certainly lived up to his nickname—broad, strong, straining the damn fatigues—but Mac knew his teammate’s weaknesses. He estimated he could take him in about five minutes, but he’d probably get a few broken bones in the process. He relaxed his stance, ready to go toe to toe with Bear, but Spider put a hand between the two men.

“The kid’s crying,” Spider pointed out helpfully.

Mac shot his friend a shocked look. Did Spider really think the best thing for the poor kid in the bed was to have some idiot go in and tell him everything would be okay? “That doesn’t mean he needs one of us to talk to him,” he asserted.

Bear crossed his arms over his impossibly broad chest. “You saw what they did, heard what he said. One of us should say something. Threaten to go kill someone or something.”

“We already killed everyone who hurt him,” Spider said evenly. “No one left to shoot.”

 

Word count: TBC but around 54,0000
Cover Art: Meredith Russell
Editor: Erika Orrick
Copyright: RJ Scott

Book two in the Heroes series.

A Reason To Stay Heroes 1 coverLast Marine Standing coverBook 1 – A Reason To Stay

 OUT NOW  For all buy links click here:
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