Plot & Characters:
An all consuming powerful story that shows the price we pay for the bonds that tie us to the lives of others and the power of the choices made by them.

This riveting story holds strong roots in the romance and love we search for in life, the love that Mari and Lt. Col. Roger Weston battle against and eventually for. We see it time and again serve as the bases of what makes us human, bringing us back from the brink of destruction. Tactical Deception is a masterfully crafted story with a message hidden in and around an action packed gut wrenching tale of horrific plots of terrorism and those that must step up to the plate to defend their country no matter the cost to themselves.

In book one we meet and follow a Delta Force Team through cracking a plot of terrorism set to unfold and destroy the lives of so many. Each member is shown to us through their actions to reach the end of what is going on; actions that offer us great insight into their character. Lives were saved, a family formed, but lives were also lost which leads us to the major romance plot in book two. In Tactical Deception we join up with them again as they deal with the aftermath of the fallout from the previous attack while trying to break through recently discovered terrorist cells already killing innocent people in America and gunning for the President while also weeding out the threat from the White Aryan Vipers Militia training Camp set on setting the balance straight again.

There are intense moments when you think everything is going to go south and other moments when you are cheering for whatever advancement the main hero and heroine make in reaching towards some kind of happiness between them. Then the author throws us in the deep end by showing us what’s going on in the minds of the antagonist, of which there are many. It’s a tangled web of deceit, family treachery and love. Love of friendship. Love of camaraderie between the men of the Delta force. And love between a man and a woman that just might beat all the odds stack against them. The road is a bloody one but so worth the fight when you reach the end. It will bring a tear to your eye and pull at your soul. It also sheds a ray of light on a people and culture that are misunderstood at times. The author definitely did her research for this series and it shows through the seamless story she has written.

To go into detail of how this book’s scenes unfold would be pointless in that you, as the reader, need to experience each moment for yourself to grasp the full concept and emotion buried within each page. It’s that intense. Ms. Saint, you’ve really outdone yourself. This is the blockbuster of military romantic suspense!

Writing:
True to her talent Ms. Saint has delivered a well written a story worthy of her title as a USA Today’s Bestselling author under her writing name Jennifer Saint [St.] Giles. Her ability to write with such depth and perception, smooth prose, fast paced action and hot loves scenes make on heck of a combination that delivers explosive stories that readers will never forget.

Summary:
Ms. Saint can write one hell of a military romantic suspense! I highly recommend this book, this series, THIS AUTHOR to readers that love to step into stories with heart and meaning. Not to mention hot heroes the heroines they fall in love with! Tactical Deception was just too good to put down and I want more! Here’s to hoping bad boy Corporal Rico Santana gets his story in the next installment in the Silent Warrior Series!

The post 5 Stars and a Reviewer Top Pick for Tactical Deception! appeared first on USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer St. Giles.

The question is one I am sure all of us have asked many times about a number of things. If you are Michelle Pfeiffer then you know a murdering Harrison Ford is lurking beneath the surface of your suburban life. If you are the rock group, Breaking Benjamin, then you’re searching beneath a twisted smile in a Dear Agony Album. If you are a Criminal Minds’ BAU star then you’re deep into the hidden horrors of a killer’s psyche. And LOL if you happen to be in the Highlands with bagpipes then perhaps you are staring at Loch Ness wondering if the legendary monster really lives beneath the murky waves.

In some way we all wonder what lies beneath the surface of what we see. What truths lie beneath the headlines of a gripping news story or an explosive scandal? Finding the answers to that question is never easy because life if not black and white, and there are a multitude of layers coloring the answers.

So, whenever I sit down and write a book, I always ask myself “What lies beneath?” What lies beneath, the façade of a character? The dynamics of the plot? The world in which the story is set? The answers I find often reach into the very heart of the story I tell. When I settled on the title of Collateral Damage, the first book in my Silent Warrior Series, I was drawn to explore the deeper meanings beneath phrase that had been born from war.

The military defines collateral damage as “[the] unintentional damage or incidental damage affecting facilities, equipment, or personnel, occurring as a result of military actions directed against targeted enemy forces or facilities. Such damage can occur to friendly, neutral, and even enemy forces. Since its inception, collateral damage has come to mean so much more and is now applied to many areas of life.

Put simply, every action a person takes has intent, something they are trying to accomplish, and ninety-nine percent of the time there is a world of unintentional consequences as a result of that action.

In my story, Jack Hunter, Lauren Collins and her twin sons are victims of collateral damage, and not just in regards to the injuries Jack suffers on a military mission in Lebanon. Lauren and her sons’ lives are torn apart by the decisions made by her soon to be ex. It is a stark fact in life that all of us are affected by the collateral damage from the choices other people make. And others are damaged by the choices we make, too. As Lauren and Jack realize this in their lives, they also learn from each other one very important thing. How they deal with the fallout of the collateral damage is what determines the quality of their future.

Can you see this in your own life?

Now that I likely went too deep, let me tell you that my Silent Warrior Series are romantic thrillers featuring military heroes and heroines with extraordinary hearts. Book one, Collateral Damage came out in December. The story starts two weeks after Jack has been seriously wounded on a FUBAR mission in Lebanon. Jack sees the picture of prominent American businessman, Bill Collins, on the news as having died yesterday in Brazil. Jack’s sketchy memory is telling him he killed Collins in Lebanon two weeks ago but nobody believes Jack.

Jack leaves the hospital and goes AWOL to uncover the truth. Instead of answers, he gets assassins, more questions, and a terrorist plot that threatens to ignite a world war. As he fights to keep Lauren, Bill’s estranged widow and her twin sons alive, he lays more than his life on the line and stands to lose everything when the truth behind Bill’s death comes to light.

Meet Jack “DT” Hunter…

Shorter of breath and one day closer to death…

Pink Floyd’s “Time” hammered through Sergeant First Class Jack Hunter’s brain as he tightened his grip on the treadmill and ran harder, his heart pounding, his lungs burning. Rage tinged with fear made for a potent Power Bar that fueled his drive. Sweat poured from his brow and his body screamed for relief, but he couldn’t stop. Not yet. His vision dimmed, and President Anderson’s address on the overhead TV calling for a swift but rational retaliation to al-Qaeda’s latest attack became nothing but a blur in his mind.

Life often hinged on the details, those seemingly insignificant microscopic events that most people trampled over obliviously. He’d trained to notice the details and to remember them. Yet no matter how hard he tried, his memory of the mission in Lebanon remained a kaleidoscope of combat images and one man’s mocking blue eyes…Jack clenched his teeth against the rising pain inside him. He took being team leader to heart both on and off the battlefield. The mission and his men were his responsibility. Rico, Pecos and Neil were his Delta brothers, and it killed him that he could only remember bits and pieces of what happened.

They’re here, DT. They’re alive! Will Taylor’s—aka Pecos—distorted voice echoed in Jack’s mind, sucking him down a long tunnel of fragmented memories… Suddenly Jack’s head jerked back as his headphones were snatched off and Lt. Col. Roger Weston, his Delta Team commander, whom the teams called Commander Weston because anything less didn’t fit his hard-edged charisma, got in his face. “Son of a bitch, DT. Are you trying to kill yourself?”

Jlsaint.com

You can read the full excerpt and for a chance to win an ARC email to jlsaintwrites@yahoo.com and tell me how you would choose for Lauren and Jack to meet each other for the first time.

Buy it today on Amazon Collateral Damage: Silent Warrior, Book 1
Look for Collateral Damage in print on 11/1/11.
Look for Book Two of the Silent Warrior Series, Tactical Deception to be released November 2011.
Enjoy the story and huge thanks to Pink Fuzzy Slippers for having me today.
JL Saint aka Jennifer St. Giles

The post What Lies Beneath? appeared first on USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer St. Giles.

Night Owl Reviews

PERSONAL SUMMARY:

Lauren is caught in the crossfire of her ex-husbands betrayal and deceit that is stained with terrorism against his country. Lauren has no idea of the hell about to be unleashed on her. She has only one chance at proving she had nothing to do with her ex-husbands wrong doings against her country. That one chance is in the form of one Delta Force leader. With assassins hot on her trail, Lauren will have to think fast on her feet to help save herself and her twin sons. She’ll also have to work hard to keep her heart intact and closed to one sexy as hell Jack Hunter if she survives the trained killers that is.

SUMMARY: (taken from the publisher’s site)

One thing makes Jack Hunter invaluable to his Delta Force Team. The same trait that makes him suck at relationships. Single-minded focus on his career—and honing his ability to never miss a kill.

After a terrorist missile devastates his team and leaves him with only partial memory of a FUBARed rescue mission, he retains only one clear picture no one believes: the last face in his gunsight belonged to a prestigious American businessman. The man’s wife has to know something, but the only way to get to her is go AWOL.

After her husband trades his family to tango with double-Ds, Lauren Collins decides her dogs are better judges of character. She’s unaware how far her soon-to-be-ex’s web of deceit reaches—until the only thing between her, her sons and a killer is a wounded Delta soldier who activates her sorely neglected X-chromosome like nobody’s business.

Their instant attraction is kryptonite to Jack’s injury-dulled edge. Thrust into a world of peril, political treachery and treason, Lauren has no choice but to trust Jack with her life. Even if she and her sons survive, she’s not sure her heart will…

Contains a warrior who doesn’t hesitate to lay his body on the line, more than one emotional love story to tug at your heart, and chaos at Chuck E. Cheese.

FIRST LINE:

Pink Floyd’s “Time” hammered through Sergeant First Class Jack Hunter’s brain as he tightened his grip on the treadmill and ran harder, his heart pounding, his lungs burning.

PLOT:

Collateral Damage was one hell of a ride! One minute you just know what will happen only to have your know it all readers mind get a jolt of adrenaline from the plot twists you never saw coming. From cover to cover there was not one page that didn’t have you wanting to know what happened next. The author definitely paid attention to the plot points and threads, making sure they weaved seamlessly together to form a wonderful tale of manipulation, secrecy, betrayal and to top it all off – love. She also delved into the meaning of the two most haunting words I have ever read Collateral Damage. If you think about it, those two words can describe so much of what people are suffering and living through right now. While showing there is a price to pay for every action that is taken, the author also pointed out the one thing that is over looked at times – the feeling of being alive, the joy of falling in love, the joy of our children, the steel nerves of determination to not allow our freedom to be taken or our lives to be interrupted. And in my opinion she did a fabulous job of showing the excitement of life through her story. Ms. Saint has written a book that I hope leads to several more to come.

SETTING:

Collateral Damage takes place in the present day. Lauren and Jack’s story starts out in Washington D.C. then moves between Georgia, North Carolina, Dubai and a secluded reserve located in a section of the Peruvian Amazon Rain forest.

WRITING:

Ms. Saint has such a fabulous and strong voice. She lavishes her stories with the grit and truth that makes the story stick with you long after you’ve read the book. I loved her books under her other name, Jennifer St. Giles, and I will definitely be looking for her J.L. Saint books in the future.

CHARACTERS:

Lauren Collins brought a life force to the story that had me riveted to everything happening in the story. She showed a strength within her that made me stop and question how I would respond to the life threatening situations she was plunged into with her twin sons in tow. To follow her through the story and to ‘see’ her fall for the wounded warrior, a man that risked everything to help protect her from being collateral damage to her ex-husbands actions was an emotional journey. Her actions and beliefs in life have changed how I see my own life. And I admit, it is not often that a character can be so well written that they influence me enough to take a step back and consider my own inner beliefs and thoughts.

Jack was the perfect counterpart to Lauren. His soul is tormented and in need of someone strong enough to help him heal. His Delta Team is in need of a leader that is whole enough to lead them and Jack ‘DT’ Hunter is determined to be that leader once again. I won’t say anything else because I would be to tempted to spoil the book for you. Be warned though, DT is one sexy-as-hell warrior that will whisk your heart away!

Ms. Saint also did an excellent job in writing the antagonist. He’s a unique character with a twisted desire to only preserve the world for his son. BUT, you’ll have to read the book to find out just how sick, twisted and somewhat genius he really is. The depth of conflict and the supporting characters provide an exhilarating emotional ride, a story that is simply a must read.

LAST THOUGHTS:

After reading Collateral Damage I couldn’t help but stop and think about my own actions in life. Ms. Saint has brought to my attention just how blessed a life I live. This book has gone to my must keep pile and I look forward to reading the Silent Warrior series as each new book comes out. I also look forward to revisiting Jack and Lauren for another read soon!

The post Collateral Damage Review – Night Owl Reviews appeared first on USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer St. Giles.

Collateral Damage

The first book in J.L. Saint’s new Silent Warrior series is a military romantic suspense thriller with enough heart-stopping action and heart-pounding passion to keep me riveted to the pages from beginning to end. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next!

The most danger Lauren Collins faces on a daily basis is breaking up squabbles between her five-year-old twin sons. Since her ex-husband left her eighteen months earlier for rotating flavors of the month, the single mom from Atlanta has devoted herself to her children, steering clear of men since it’s obvious that her two dogs are much better judges of character than she is, but that all changes on the boys’ birthday when a mysterious letter from her ex-husband arrives from Brazil. Thrust into the middle of a terrorist plot that could bring the world to war, this unassuming mom finds herself and her sons targeted by paid assassins, a wounded soldier she’s not sure she should trust appears to be her only hope for survival and she wonders if she ever knew her ex-husband at all!

Wounded during a mission gone awry in Lebanon, Delta Force soldier, Jack Hunter is recovering at Walter Reed Medical Center when he’s shocked to see a photo of prominent Atlanta businessman, Bill Collins on television. The reports say Collins was killed in Brazil the night before but Jack knows he shot and killed Collins during a rescue mission gone awry in Lebanon two weeks earlier. The problem is Collins’ body disappeared from Lebanon, Jack’s memories of the mission are fuzzy and nobody else believes the businessman was really there. The facts don’t add up. Jack leaves the hospital and heads for Atlanta to find the man’s wife but, instead of answers, he only finds more questions and a woman who brings his body, and heart, to life. But with more than one bad guy after them, will they live long enough to explore the attraction between them? And, if they do survive, will Lauren ever be able to forgive him for taking the life of her sons’ father?

Saint (who also writes as Jennifer St. Giles) wrote the proposal for this book prior to 9/11 but the story could be ripped from the headlines of the world in which we live today. An environmentalist discovers a “super fuel” then uses terrorist tactics to set nation against nation, hoping to bring about a world war that will see him emerging as the supreme power at the end. Using this as the basis of the story, Saint then brings the action down to a personal, intimate level by showing us what happens to ordinary people who are the collateral damage (impacted by) of the actions of others – a terrorist, the government, an ex-husband – and the extraordinary measures those people take to save themselves and the people they love. As Jack realizes toward the end of the book…

In one way or another Jack realized that everyone experienced collateral damage from the fallout of life. What determined the result was all in how a person viewed themselves and conquered the obstacles.

With Jack and Lauren, Saint has given us a courageous soldier who believes he has nothing to offer a woman in a relationship and an unassuming mom who finds a hidden well of strength and courage that she never imagined she had. (It isn’t hard to identify with a mom whose children are threatened.) She surrounds them with an intriguing cast of secondary characters that help propel the story without overshadowing the lead characters of this book but leave the reader excited about reading each of their stories. I’m looking forward to getting to know all of them better and am especially eager to learn more about Roger and Mari.

I’ve enjoyed previous offerings from Jennifer St. Giles but I really think she’s found her niche writing romantic suspense thrillers as J.L. Saint. I highly recommend this book!

~PJ at The Romance Dish

The post Collateral Damage Review – The Romance Dish appeared first on USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer St. Giles.

Maldivian Book Reviews

Like any reader, I am a bit apprehensive when it comes to trying out new authors, though that doesn’t stop me from trying out books on authors that I have never heard of because just sometimes, delving into the unknown certainly pays off when you find a book such as this one where the pages literally turn themselves with the fast paced action, romance and adventure that this one delivers – in spades.

Sergeant First Class Jack Hunter with more than 20 years of military experience under his belt also known as DT i.e. Double Tap because of his accuracy with headshots, wakes up in the ICU at the Walter Reed Medical Centre when the last mission where he had led his team members Rico, Pecos and Neil into the terrorist ridden areas of Lebanon where a group had kidnapped and held hostage the daughters of the Israeli Prime Minister and the US Ambassador had gone totally wrong. With Rico and himself seriously injured and Neil dead in the strike that had taken place, Jack is a man torn apart by the nightmares about the mission gone wrong and pieces that don’t seem to fit together. The one thing that Jack who has a strained relationship with his 6 year old daughter Livy after the hellish nightmare of a 7 year marriage with her mother Jill had ended up in divorce knows is that there is more than what meets the eye in what went down in Lebanon. With all his senses screaming at him to make sense of the blond and blue eyed American he had shot dead whose body had not turned up makes Jack all twitchy on the insides and makes him push himself to the limits to get back to the field before the shit hits the fan.

Lauren Collins with her 6 year old twin sons Matt and Mitch is just a month away from finalizing her divorce from Bill Collins the one man she had thought had been her Prince Charming who had later turned out to be the stuff made from nightmares. Right after Bill had taken up a job at BioLogics, a company that deals with invention of green technology as their PR executive and turned all secretive, their marriage had hit the rocks only to plummet deeper into abysmal when Bill began a string of extramarital affairs that had finally decided the fate of their marriage. And when Lauren receives the dreaded phone call in the middle of the night informing her that her husband had been shot dead in what appeared to be a random act of violence right after which her home is invaded by a masked gunman hellbent on searching for something Lauren has no clue of whatsoever, she barely manages to escape with her and her sons lives intact.

When the rough and tough looking six foot Jack Hunter with his square jawed and chiseled looks turns up on her doorstep commanding all her bedraggled hormones to take notice and clamor for his attention, he turns out to be her only savior from danger that lurks wherever she turns. Lauren has no choice but to trust Jack with her and her sons lives as they race against time and try to piece together the cutthroat world of murder and mayhem that Bill had thrust his family into. As red-hot passion burns strong and sure like wildfire between Jack and beautiful Lauren so does a mad man’s thirst for world dominance that knows no bounds as he would go to any lengths to thwart those who stand in his way to prevent him from executing the perfect plan which would give him total power served on a silver platter.

Likes:

1- Jack Hunter. He is broody, tortured and hot as sin!! I always love myself a tortured hero who knows what to do with his God given talents in pleasing a woman! And that’s not the only thing that drew me to Jack. He is loyal and wants to do right by what is his though he has had a hard time of things for the last couple of years. And on top of all that, he is black ops military. *sigh* Jack is utterly swoon worthy ladies, I solemnly swear by this! *swoons*

2- Lauren Collins. She is perfect heroine material for the rough and tough Jack Hunter. With her sons she is the fierce mother tigress protecting her cubs, with Jack she is vulnerable and strong at the same time and what makes her unique is she doesn’t stand down and let Jack take all the control but rather she is an equal partner where she and Jack are concerned. Loved Lauren to bits.

3- This story opened up my eyes to a lot of things that can go wrong with the precariously balanced “peace” that we take for granted in this world. Just add to it bad guys who are unscrupulous enough and have the means to manipulate the West and the Islamic world as that happened in this story and you would have a global catastrophe of major proportions on your hands. Being a Muslim myself, I was a bit apprehensive when I started out reading and encountered the scene where Muslims had kidnapped the daughter of the Israeli prime minister. And I thought to myself, please don’t let this story be something where Muslims are portrayed as less than human and I was really glad of the sensitivity with which Ms. Saint handled the issue. There is no overly judgmental stuff going on in the story which brings home the hard truth of a war that was started by the Bush administration which has already cost the common man a lot more just a pretty penny from his pocket. Kudos to Ms. Saint for pulling this off so well.

4- I liked the secondary stories that were taking place as the story unfolded. I liked how Ms. Saint didn’t overly make the story about the secondary characters, which is sometimes what happens when an author tries to juggle too many characters and their stories in one novel. She has laid the foundation nicely for this new series the rest of the books which has already landed on my auto-buy list. I am really looking forward to reading the story of the Delta Team commander Lt. Col. Roger Weston and Mari, the Muslim widow of Neil who dies in the op that is the starting point of this series and story.

5- The cover. Believe it or not, the cover was what drew me to the story in the first place. I make it a point to surf through Samhain Publishing at least once a month to find out titles that might interest me. And when I looked into the eyes of the guy on the cover, I was baited enough to read through the synopsis and I have since then been looking forward to its release date which was earlier this month. This one definitely ends up on the fabulous cover list! ^_^

6- The creepy villain and his ever more creepy chimpanzee. Gives me the shivers of the bad kind even thinking about his warped mind. But he was a villain who certainly delivered enough to label him as one of the creepiest villains ever and lends the story the edge that it so well receives from him on the danger and adventure front.

Dislikes: As always the lack of a proper epilogue does rankle but not overly much since I hope I would be getting to see a bit of Jack and Lauren in the next couple of books in the series. ^_^

Memorable scenes/quotes from the story:

Jack clasped her shoulders and turned her to face him. A fierceness had sharpened his chiseled features. His green eyes burned. “Bill Collins was a fool and completely unworthy of anything to do with you. Don’t waste any more of yourself on his stupidity.” He slid his thumb along her bottom lip, sending fiery need right to her core. Her stomach clenched and her body wept for more. “Another time, another place, I’d back you to that wall right there, or any place you wanted to go, and do everything in my power to wipe him from your mind.”

She grabbed his hand. He pulled her up and something happened. There was a shift in the inches of air separating them. Every nerve she had stood up and said, “Hello, baby,” to the obvious flare of desire in his eyes when he looked at her. His need seemed to equal the desperation of her own. She opened her mouth, imagining his kiss, imagining his firm lips claiming hers. The fire in his green eyes blazed white hot.

He caught on that she wasn’t focused on wanting answers anymore. Her gaze was on his chest, and hunger was in her eyes. She lid her palm down from his shoulder to touch the bruising by his left nipple.

The purplish injuries had faded to a yellowish-green, but the extent of the trauma he’d suffered was still visible. He gritted his teeth and tried to suck air into lungs that he had forgotten how to breathe. He grabbed her wrist, intending to pull her hand from his chest. Instead, he groaned and pressed her palm deeper into his skin. For just a moment, he told himself. It had been so long since he’d been touched, so long since he’d accepted physical comfort from someone else that he literally did not have the strength to pull away. That’s all his attraction was to her. He was a starved man and she was an appetizing woman.
Recommended for: Fans of romantic suspense who love books filled with non-stop adventure and red-hot passion!

Final Grade:

The post Collateral Damage Review – Maldivian Book Reviews appeared first on USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer St. Giles.

In COLLATERAL DAMAGE by J.L. SAINT, book 1 in the Silent Warrior Series I was simply blown away.

Lauren is about to be divorced to a man she comes to find out she really never knew, so many secrets, so many betrayals come to life right before her eyes. And now on her doorstep is the sexy as hell leather weapon who claims to know her husband or at least something about his death. Jack is bruised and battered, internally and emotionally, so on the hunt he goes back to the states to find out what the hell happened that day in Lebanon that destroyed his team, leaving one dead, one blind and rest severely hurt and just as damaged mentally as well as physically as Jack.

There are so many unanswered questions that need answers but first and foremost Jack needs to find out what Lauren knows about her husbands terrorist dealing. All the while trying to not get killed from all the bad guys chasing them and killing off everyone in their path!

You want action, you got it in the thrilling suspenseful romance that holds hands with the domestic and international terrorism. Frankly it was scary as hell the things that happened to Jack and Lauren and just when you think things might be going their way, finally they have been given a break, the author does that unthinkable thing that makes all who reading gasp in horror and read every word hanging onto the hope that the characters that they have fallen for and cheering for will make it through the next few pages. Whether it was the supporting cast of characters which included some of Jack’s Delta Force team or Lauren’s loyal friend Angela or even the wife of a dead comrade you can’t help but invest 100% of your heart into their every action.

Talk about on the edge of your seat, there are several bad guys in this story and so many supporting storylines that cross paths. But at no time was I confused or overwhemed.

Let a terrorist take her? Not over his dead body and damned soul…

Silent Warrior, Book 1

One thing makes Jack Hunter invaluable to his Delta Force Team. The same trait that makes him suck at relationships. Single-minded focus on his career—and honing his ability to never miss a kill.

After a terrorist missile devastates his team and leaves him with only partial memory of a FUBARed rescue mission, he retains only one clear picture no one believes: the last face in his gunsight belonged to a prestigious American businessman. The man’s wife has to know something, but the only way to get to her is go AWOL.

After her husband trades his family to tango with double-Ds, Lauren Collins decides her dogs are better judges of character. She’s unaware how far her soon-to-be-ex’s web of deceit reaches—until the only thing between her, her sons and a killer is a wounded Delta soldier who activates her sorely neglected X-chromosome like nobody’s business.

Their instant attraction is kryptonite to Jack’s injury-dulled edge. Thrust into a world of peril, political treachery and treason, Lauren has no choice but to trust Jack with her life. Even if she and her sons survive, she’s not sure her heart will…

The post Collateral Damage Review – Book Junkie Review appeared first on USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer St. Giles.

Collateral Damage

Virna DePaulI interviewed J.L. Saint about her new ebook original, Collateral Damage, a romantic suspense with Samhain Publishing, Ltd. With the world on the edge of war, one wounded Delta Soldier and one desperate woman are at the center of a horrific plot and running for their lives. As they unravel the deceit, they are thrust into a race to save her children and stop a global meltdown into anarchy.

Previous reviews of Saint’s works, which she published under the name Jennifer St. Giles, have routinely commented on her masterful ability to weave suspense and emotion:

“St. Giles’s story ripples with tension.”–Publishers Weekly

“Raw emotions give way to desperate choices, which adds up to breathless reading pleasure.” –Romantic Times

Sexually charged romance that satisfies whether you’re seeking suspense or passion.” –Romantic Times

“Fast paced, full of mystery, and…danger. I couldn’t put the book down.” —A Romance Review.com

You’ve indicated Collateral Damage is a “military thriller with a slice of romance” that is “different” from your other books. Can you tell us how?

Collateral Damage is the first book in my Silent Warrior Series that will feature a military man or woman as the hero or heroine of the story. The first few books in the series center around a Delta Team whose mission to extract high profile hostages from a radical group in Lebanon turns into tragedy. These are not battlefield thrillers, but stories that place a military hero and his extraordinary skills in a domestic setting with a high-octane plot. In all nine of my published novels (Pocket Books and Berkley Publishing) there is an element of suspense, either a murder mystery in my gothic historicals, or a do or die fight against evil in my paranormal contemporaries. I also have a very sensual romance at the core of each story. When I write I want my readers to feel the story, be it humor, heart-stopping suspense or pulse-pounding passion. What makes Collateral Damage different is that there are no paranormal elements to the stories and I have more freedom to explore some of the controversial issues all of us are facing in the world today.

You started Collateral Damage in the early 2000s before 9/11. In the first chapter, we see Delta Force soldier Jack Hunter freshly wounded from a rescue mission and itching to return to the frey after al-Qaeda attacks American’s oil hubs. Can you discuss the progression of this work from its inception to publication?

I wrote the proposal for Collateral Damage in 2000. Set it ten years in the future and used the world’s dependency on oil and inflamed religious factions to bring about global chaos as the backdrop for the story. The only real changes I made before finally getting to write the story in 2010, is that I went to an algae-based biofuel from a space mined fuel and I went to a ruthless environmentalist as the mastermind behind the plot as opposed to American businessmen. Immediately after 9/11 no one wanted to touch the story. Al-Qaeda was too sensitive a subject, especially for a romance writer. Then I became published in the historical and paranormal genres and it sat in my file cabinet for nine years. But the way the real world events kept playing out since 9/11, I couldn’t get the story out of my head. I kept seeing how ripe the world was for this “what if scenario” and I finally decided to write the book. My next problem was that I had this big world plot, but I wanted to bring the story down to a personal level and how an everyday person is affected by the collateral damage from the choices another person close to them makes. Because the truth of the matter is everyone suffers collateral damage in their life. How they deal with it is what determines the quality of their future.

At one time, you were a nurse. How has that experience played out in your writing?

I recently attended Kennesaw State University and have just renewed my license to practice nursing after eighteen years out of the field. I am currently looking for a part time position. As for how nursing has helped my writing, I find that I often pull on my medical based background in both my plots and in characterization, but I think the influence goes deeper in that there is a nurturing element to my heroines and even my heroes that is a part of me and what led me to the practice of nursing in the first place.

You write Contemporary and Historical Paranormals, Contemporary Suspense/Thrillers, and Contemporary Romance. What advice do you have for authors wanting to write cross-genre?

First and foremost, write a story that you are passionate about and not a story solely based on what is selling now. If you can twist what is hot on the market to fit the story you want to write in your heart, then go for it. But in order to excite others, you need to be excited yourself. For me, I love story and I believe passionately in two important elements to the stories I write no matter the genre. I believe that when you boil all of life down to its core, you end up with the need to love and be loved as the most important and fulfilling element in life. So I write about love, the expression of that love physically, mentally, and spiritually, and the power of overcoming obstacles make love possible. Secondly, I believe in the battle of good and evil on earth and in the spirit world. So I write about that as well. By taking those two elements and believing passionately in them, I think a writer can write a story in any genre they choose.

Is there generally a message in your novels you want readers to grasp?

Well, LOL I think I answered this question in part already. Messages in my books are about love, acceptance that people are not perfect but are still worthy to be loved. That life is not perfect but still worthy of living. That there is a higher power and good does conquer evil.

What are your tips for meshing suspense and romance? For readers who like a lot of romance, which of your books would you recommend as an introduction to you work?

Meshing romance and suspense is different depending on the genre. In the gothic historicals with a murder mystery at the core, the romance and the suspense are like a coil being twisted tighter and tighter. The closer the heroine gets to the hero, the closer she comes to discovering the truth, and the more her heart and life is endangered. Yet she continually makes the choice to reach out to the hero no matter what the consequences. With the contemporary thrillers the romance and the suspense play out differently. The hero and the heroine are in a desperate race to save their lives or souls, the lives of those they love, or even the world. This battle strips away normal social barriers and bares their souls to each other. During the action the hero and heroine continually make the choice for the other’s good and eventually make the choice to love no matter what the cost. It is this sustained emotional element that makes a thriller a romantic thriller.

What fictional novels are you reading now?

Authors I have read this year are, JD Robb, Brad Thor, Suzanne Brockman, Andrew Peterson, AJ Tata, Amy Fetzer, Lara Adrian, JR Ward, Andrew Gross, Barry Eisler, Jacquie D’Alessandro, Allison Brennan, Alex Berenson, and Nora Roberts to name a few. LOL

Is there anything you find particularly challenging about writing?

The time and the focus to write everything in my head. And if someone has a cure for the Procrastination Virus please contact me.

How has your writing process changed as your career has developed?

When my children were little I would write between 10 at night to 4 in the morning, now that I am getting older, I don’t function during those hours and I write in the day time.

Do you have any advice for authors seeking to write suspense for both male and female readers?

I am exploring that issue now as I make a decided step toward the thriller genre. What I hear from women readers, and know for myself as a reader, is that women want an emotionally rich and satisfying story with an uplifting ending and monogamy in the romance along with the heart-stopping suspense. They also tend to want to see the physical relationship play out on the page. Also, both the hero and the heroine have very strong, very active roles in the action and plot.

Men want an action oriented plot, possibly more realism, and not necessarily a character who settles on one romantic interest. LOL if the hero or heroine does commit or becomes really romantically interested in another character then often that character gets killed. The hero and the heroine don’t jointly play a strong, active role throughout the entire story. It is either one or the other. (If I have this wrong, then please let me know). Marrying these two wants into one book isn’t an easy task and may not be entirely possible. Except for a few, romance writers who have become successful thriller writers, lose some of the elements that defined them as romance writers. I hope that I can find the key that will satisfy both men and women readers.

Can you tell us a little about the next novel you’re working on?

My ambitious writing docket for 2011?

Write a short story for an upcoming anthology.

Write book 2 in the Silent Warrior Series that will feature Lt. Col. Roger Weston and Mari Dalton (two characters introduced in Collateral Damage)

Finish the last section of the pilot script for a paranormal/crime tv series I have developed.

Finish my steampunk proposal, book one of a The Covenant Conspiracies called Legacy Undone.

Finish book five in The Shadowmen Series called Bewitching the Wolf.

And since I have re-sold my Killdaren Series to be re-released in ebook, Midnight Secrets 4/2011, Darkest Dreams 8/2011, and Silken Shadows 12/2011, I would like to have a new historical gothic ready to be released in 2012.

Am I insane? Yes. Shoot for the stars and you may end up with the moon or only an armful of air, but at least you’ll have tried and maybe your feet will no longer be stuck in the mud.
About the author:
J.L. Saint is the pseudonym for USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer St. Giles. She is a nurse and the mother of three. She has won a number of awards for writing excellence, the Daphne du Maurier Award, Romance Writers’ of America’s Golden Heart Award, two National Reader’s Choice Awards, two time Maggie Award Winner, and the RT Book Club’s Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Historical Gothic/Mystery.
For more information, go to: www.jlsaint.com or www.jenniferstgiles.com

The post Big Thrill Interview From International Thriller Writers appeared first on USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer St. Giles.

Let a terrorist take her? Not over his dead body and damned soul…

One thing makes Jack Hunter invaluable to his Delta Force Team. The same trait that makes him suck at relationships. Single-minded focus on his career—and honing his ability to never miss a kill.

After a terrorist missile devastates his team and leaves him with only partial memory of a FUBARed rescue mission, he retains only one clear picture no one believes: the last face in his gunsight belonged to a prestigious American businessman. The man’s wife has to know something, but the only way to get to her is go AWOL.

After her husband trades his family to tango with double-Ds, Lauren Collins decides her dogs are better judges of character. She’s unaware how far her soon-to-be-ex’s web of deceit reaches–until the only thing between her, her sons and a killer is a wounded Delta soldier who activates her sorely neglected X-chromosome like nobody’s business.

Their instant attraction is kryptonite to Jack’s injury-dulled edge. Thrust into a world of peril, political treachery and treason, Lauren has no choice but to trust Jack with her life. Even if she and her sons survive, she’s not sure her heart will…

Warning: Contains a warrior who doesn’t hesitate to lay his body on the line, more than one emotional love story to tug at your heart, and chaos at Chuck E. Cheese.

My Thoughts

I spotted COLLATERAL DAMAGE a few weeks ago but only got the chance to read it a few days ago – to sum up this book in a few words – If this book is a preview of what 2011 is going to be like in terms of Romance suspense, it is going to be a damn good year.

I am not rightly sure what drew me to this book, Saint is a new author to me and to be honest the blurb read like any other Rom Suspense blurb on the market, I think it was probably the cover, there is just something about it that implies solidity and even a little bit of protect and serve. I am generally a sucker for books with that troupe.

The big story of the book is all about Sergent First Class Jack Hunter trying to find missing memories and in some way he is trying to take care of his men that he feels like he has let down even though he had no reason to think so.

The thing is, Jack is just back from war and not under the circumstances that he would have like, but he is here now and he has to find that missing piece of memories that seems to be just there but he is never able to hold on long enough to grasp it. One thing he does remember is killing a man that should not have been where he was.

Jack’s a simply guy for the most part and normally just do what he has to do and for now that’s following the little bit of info that he has and this info leads to Lauren Collins and her twin boys.

When Jack turns up at Lauren’s door he gets more that he bargained for – because Lauren also has her own set of drama and none of it looking good and if there is one thing Jack is certain off, no one is going to dies or get hurt again on his watch.

Lauren is pass the point of being pissed, she’s passed scared and she’s pass being bloody angry at whoever has being trying to make her life a nightmare this past 24hours. With a stranger now on her door step it just feels like the final straw and she was in no mood for games – but when she finds out that she just might be the key to opening alot more than Jack memories the game is definitely on because someone wants it all and Lauren and her children are the the only thing standing in their way and as it stands Jack is about her only defence.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE is a book that really hits all my reading highs.

What worked for me

Characters – Jack was definitely alpha male material and he spoke it and acted it with everything he did. He carry that broody thing they all do so well but overall he had a conscience and I absolutely loved the fact that he knew how to listen and take advise when you least expected it.

Lauren was not kick ass chick but neither was she a TSTL girl either, she was a mother who knew what winning again the odd was all about, she was a home owner who had just about lost the only stable thing she had in her and her children’s life – believe me you don’t want to mess with a woman who had lost her home. She also knew when to get on the ride and hang on for dear life.

The support cast were really strong, so strong that there was a moment or two there that I almost forgot that Lauren and Jack were the headliner of this show…….

There are also kids and animals involved and for those people who have issues with these in books especially a tension filled books as this – don’t worry they only make a good thing better.

Getting me involved – I could see the investment that the author made in researching the war and the effect and counter effect that it had on life both on home soil and abroad. She kept the info like places and situations as basic as possible with the names of place as true to life as I know it – so it was very easy to see the lay of the land rather than imagining a whole new fictional world.

From start to finish I was apart of the process of Jack finding what he was searching for, I felt his anger, I felt for his men, I hoped for a better life for those who he was worried about and I wanted to pick up arms and say “use mine” a time or two to hep him defend himself.

Plot – Honestly the plot is nothing new, but Ms. Saint worked with what she had and used the fine print to make this story for me, filtered it with subplots and made sure everything leads to home.

The scenes were kept short and to the point, and with a diverse mix of characters to rub each other up the right and the wrong way, I was loving it.

Subplot – There are a few subplot that rock this book and make me wish the next book in this series was already in the shop

Pace – Filled with action from almost start to finish, the pace of COLLATERAL DAMAGE was relentless with everyone caught up in the mix of something. No-one knowing what the next person was up to and with the most of the cast operating on nerves alone – it was sweet.

POV – I love a book were I get multiply POV – as this generally gives me a more rounded feel of the book. Multiply POV worked in this book, there was too much happening and I would have not enjoyed the plot-line as much if I didn’t get some of that info.

The Villain – Recently I have been moaning about most of the bad guy I have been reading about not being bad and acting their part, if you have issues with a man who just will do anything to get to the top look away now – this guy put the letter V in the word evil… he made this book.

Niggles

As much As I loved this book, I had some issues with the logistic of how things happen in the first few pages. They thought about doing things and within a scenes or two they were there – If this is not a point of interest for you, you won’t even notice it.

To be honest I really felt like those scenes were written like that so the story could get to where the action should begin.

Bottom Line.

So far COLLATERAL DAMAGE is sitting right at the top of the list of good books I have read so far this year. This is my first time with this authors voice and if this is any indication of what is to some with the other books in the series – all I can say is please write faster Ms Saint.
“Love, Action, and Race Cars!”
Collateral Damage is a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat from the first page. While the military jargon can become a bit difficult to follow at times it does not distract from the story at all. Jack is a hard-headed, Delta trained soldier that is willing to protect this innocent woman, her kids, and the dogs that know an Alpha when they see one! After military duty forces Jack to commit a crime that leads to a web of unpredictable betray, and the type of love that makes me sigh and go “I want”.

This is a story that could be enjoyed by several different types of reader. It does have its spicy scenes, but this is a true romance that is action packed from the beginning to the end. I started this book and finished it in one evening; after starting it I could wait to finish it just to see if the kids would be ok and if Jack and Lauren would end up together. The secondary story lines set up the series that I think will be as engaging and heart stopping as this one!
Reviewed by J. M. Schuler
Posted December 14, 2010

The post Collateral Damage Review – E. H. on Books and More Review appeared first on USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer St. Giles.