Blog Archives
FIRST LOOK ~ In My Skin (The Obsidian Files #3) by Shannon McKenna
Get a First Look at IN MY SKIN by Shannon McKenna!
Here’s your FIRST LOOK at NYTimes and USA Today bestselling author Shannon McKenna’s upcoming romantic suspense novel, IN MY SKIN! Join us as we get our first peek at this thrilling tale of deadly danger and burning desire. Don’t miss out on information about an Obsidian Files novella, an excerpt, plus TEN people will win an eBook copy of RIGHT THROUGH ME or MY NEXT BREATH, the first two books in the series.
Title: In My Skin
Series: The Obsidian Files #3
Author: Shannon McKenna
Release Date: June 19, 2018
Publisher: Self-published
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Synopsis:
Come back to me …
Luke remembers a few things. Just not his last name, or anyone he ever knew. He knows that he’s a supersoldier, genetically enhanced and loaded up with brain implants. He just escaped from a year-long hell of captivity, and to protect his family and friends from his tormentors, he blocked his memories. Now he needs those memories back, fast … or he and those he loves will die agonizing deaths.
Luke’s dangerous plan to reconnect with his past—and stay alive in the present—has drawn his enemies’ attention to the tough and sexy Dani LaSalle. He’s duty bound to protect the luscious beauty from the evil pursuing them, but he can’t control the scorching desire she awakens in him.
Dani’s strict routine has been trashed by Luke’s explosive arrival. This rock-hard slab of valiant, smoldering manhood appears out of nowhere, saves her life, spirits her away to his mountain lair and bewilders her with tales of sadistic researchers, enhanced assassins. Is this gorgeous, problematic sex god just plain crazy—or is she? But Luke can do things with his mind that are just as wild as what he can do with that body … and she can’t say no.
And there’s no time to wonder. As their passion burns hotter, Obsidian moves closer … and Luke and Dani must place their lives and their hearts on the line just to survive …
Pre-Order Now:
Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo
BONUS!
Get a special look at the upcoming novella in The Obsidian Files!
To celebrate twenty years as a published author, Shannon wrote LIGHT ME UP as a gift to her loyal group of readers! The release date is still TBA, but please enjoy the cover and blurb!
All night long …
Tycoon and secret supersoldier Noah Gallagher never expected to beat the Obsidian Group at their evil game—genetically altering runaway kids—but he did, with the help of the brave and beautiful Caro Bishop, the love of his life. The two of them survived that wild adventure, but only just. Noah is crazy for his new bride, knowing all the while that being with him puts her at constant risk. Their love, their closeness, and the intense passion they share are shadowed by fear. Obsidian’s relentless hunt to recapture its rebels will never stop. Noah would die to save her—but now is not the time to tell her that.
Caro’s relaxing on their deluxe honeymoon in Italy, rediscovering treasures of Renaissance art, when they’re invited to the public unveiling of the latest secret sensation in the art world, the newly excavated Cross of Orazio. Caro is beyond thrilled. Noah is not. The guest list is packed with politicians, corporate moguls, celebrities, and entourages. Social media coverage will follow them everywhere.
Caro’s wild to go and Noah can’t deny her pleasure of any kind. They’ll stay off the red carpet. Admire the cross and leave for an erotic rendezvous he’s planned in advance, right down to the rose petals and silken cords. What could go wrong?
Everything. The fabled Cross of Orazio is more than it seems, and now he and Caro are right in the line of fire …
Enter to win a digital copy of RIGHT THROUGH ME or MY NEXT BREATH
IN MY SKIN Excerpt
Copyright © 2018 Shannon McKenna
Dani stepped through the passageway—and started backwards, with a stifled shriek.
An enormous dark man loomed in the shadows. Huge. Buzzed dark hair, vast shoulders, all bulked up with black body armor like a commando.
His eyes gleamed in the darkness with terrifying intensity. “Don’t scream.” His voice was deep, hoarse and scratchy. “I won’t hurt you.” He made a shushing gesture with his hands.
“Who the fuck are you?” Dani’s back thudded against the wall. “What are you doing here in my house?”
“We need to talk.” His voice was very calm. “Quietly.”
“About what?” Her voice shook.
“Shhh. Keep it down. About Naldo.”
She went nuts, writhing in his grip. “It was you!” she hissed. “You hurt Naldo!”
“No!” He whispered the words urgently into her ear. “No, no, no. That wasn’t me.”
She fought him, but there was an uncanny quality to his implacable grip. A sinking-into-quicksand feeling, as if he was using her own energy and the harder she fought, the tighter he held her.
He wound her into a shaking. Her legs were trapped between his rock-solid thighs. She strained against him, fear rising to a screaming pitch. “What the fuck do you want from me?”
“For you to listen.” The vibration of his deep, quiet voice against her ear sent racking shivers through her.
She swallowed to calm the shaking. “Fine,” she said. “Talk. Make it snappy.”
“Don’t be afraid,” he urged.
Dani let out a bark of incredulous laughter. “Hah! For real?”
“I won’t hurt you, Dani. I swear it.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and just tried not to hyperventilate. “Then why not come to the goddamned door like a normal person if all you want to do is to talk?”
“It hasn’t been a normal day. You never would’ve let me in.”
“Right! Let go of me! Asshole!”
“Shhh,” he whispered again. “I came in to warn you that you’re in danger.”
She twisted in his grip, just enough to catch the flash of his dark gaze.
“Oh really.” Her voice dripped sarcasm. “Am I. Now there’s a news flash.”
“Not from me,” he said impatiently. “From the people who hurt Naldo.”
“What do you know about Naldo? Who hurt him?” She turned to study his face again. “Wait. I saw you earlier,” she said slowly. “You were in the ER. Wearing a lab coat.”
“Yeah, that was me,” he admitted.
“I thought you were a new resident, maybe starting an ER rotation.”
“Nope, not a doctor. I was there to protect you,” he told her. “I’m here now for the same reason.”
“I didn’t ask for your protection,” she replied savagely. “Whoever the hell you are!”
“Getting around to that. Now listen. Naldo had a—” His body went still. “Shhhhh.”
She froze too, waiting. Listening. “What in the hell is going on?”
“They’re moving in on us.” He breathed the words out almost soundlessly. “Don’t make a sound.”
It was too damn much. She yanked one of her arms almost free. “The only problem I have right now is you! Let … me … go!”
His hand clamped over her mouth. She pulled back and bit his hand, hard. He pulled his hand free with a hiss of pain, and she started to screech.
In a blinding instant, she was clamped against his body so tight she could hardly breathe.
He hoisted her off her feet. Kicked open the door to the laundry closet. Hauled her inside.
And there she was, in the darkness in her clutter of brooms, buckets and mops, jammed in between her ironing board and her washing machine with a huge, mysterious, terrifying man.
So close, he was practically plastered to her body.
About the Author:
Shannon McKenna is the NYT bestselling author of seventeen action packed, turbocharged romantic thrillers, among which are the stories of the wildly popular McCloud series and the brand new romantic suspense series, The Obsidian Files. She loves tough and heroic alpha males, heroines with the brains and guts to match them, villains who challenge them to their utmost, adventure, scorching sensuality, and most of all, the redemptive power of true love. Since she was small she has loved abandoning herself to the magic of a good book, and her fond childhood fantasy was that writing would be just like that, but with the added benefit of being able to take credit for the story at the end. Alas, the alchemy of writing turned out to be messier than she’d ever dreamed. But what the hell, she loves it anyway, and hopes that readers enjoy the results of her alchemical experiments. She loves to hear from her readers.
Follow: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Reader Group | Newsletter | Amazon
Share this:
FIRST LOOK CELEBRATION ~ Right Through Me by Shannon McKenna
First Look Celebration for Shannon McKenna’s Right Through Me
NYTimes and USA Today bestselling author Shannon McKenna launches The Obsidian Files with RIGHT THROUGH ME, a pulse-pounding tale of thrilling suspense and searing passion.
A beautiful fugitive and a biotech tycoon with strange powers must face the lethal rage of a vicious enemy bent on their annihilation.
Giveaway:
2 winners will receive a $10 Amazon Giftcard
& 2 winners will receive an e-copy of choice from Shannon’s backlist!
About RIGHT THROUGH ME:
Stranger, speak softly…
Biotech tycoon Noah Gallagher has a deadly secret: his clandestine training as a super-soldier gives him abilities that go far beyond human. Yet he’s very much a man. When Caro Bishop shows up at his Seattle headquarters with a dangerous secret agenda, his ordered life is thrown into chaos. Caro is a woman like no other—and her luminously sensual beauty cloaks a mystery he must solve.
Caro’s lying low, evading a false charge of murder. She means to clear her name, and she’ll do whatever it takes to survive—but seducing a man like Noah is more than she bargained for. His amber eyes have the strangest glow when he looks at her—she could swear he sees the secrets of her heart. The desire smoldering in Noah’s eyes awakens her own secret hunger, but Caro has to resist his magnetic pull. Anyone close to her becomes a target. The only right thing to do is run, far and fast, but Caro can’t outrun Noah’s ferocious intensity—or deny the searing passion that explodes between them.
Nothing else matters—until a vicious enemy bent on the ultimate revenge puts his murderous plan into play. Noah and Caro must battle for their lives…and their love…
Find out more at Goodreads | Shannon’s Website
Exclusive Excerpt:
Welcome to the secret and dangerous world of The Obsidian Files!
I’ve always loved stories about people forced to widen the idea of what it means to be a human being, as well as stories about what it would be like to be superhuman. Now that the technology to augment, enhance, even design human beings is becoming an accepted reality, it fascinates me even more.
My hero, charismatic biotech tycoon Noah Gallagher, has a deadly secret—he’s more than human. As a teenager, he was swept up into the Obsidian program, a plan to create super-soldiers using gene splicing and nanotech. Noah led the other modified kids in a desperate rebellion. They barely escaped with their lives and went deep underground.
Now, years later, Noah’s crew now hides in plain sight, careful to mask their uncanny abilities. All except for breakaway element Mark Olund, a psychopath who uses his abilities to enrich himself. Mark is a threat Noah’s group, so when Mark’s mistress, Caro Bishop, suddenly shows up near Noah’s Seattle headquarters working as a bellydancer, Noah’s sister decides that they need a closer look at her. Preferably one using Noah’s enhanced eyes.
But no one could have imagined the effect that Caro would have on him . . .
Someone just cut the lights. What the hell?
Noah Gallagher put down his pen and looked around, startled, as drums began to throb from the Angel Enterprises penthouse conference room’s hidden sound system.
The door to the conference room opened to a shimmery jingling sound, then a flash of fluttering purple. Everyone at the table was staring and murmuring.
Oh, Christ. Not possible. He rose to his feet, but the bellydancer was already halfway through the door, hands weaving in a hypnotic pattern. Wide, light-catching green eyes laughed at him brazenly as she shimmied straight toward him, leading with one pulsing hip.
Her eyes caught him . . . and held him.
The world narrowed down. Whatever he was going to say or do just stopped. Words were gone. Air was gone. Air didn’t matter. Nothing moved while she moved.
She had commandeered all movement with that smile. Those eyes.
He was sitting again, with no memory of doing so. His mind had gone blank.
Noah and his crew have been genetically altered and nanotech modified, with implants and neural programming, all for the purpose of creating fearless and ferocious supersoldiers. Noah fought hard to stay on top of himself and his incredible abilities, but something about Caro moves him so deeply, it compromises his hard-won self-control.
A spotlight from somewhere gilded the dancer’s body. He was enthralled by silver anklets that jingled over her small, bare feet. Gilded toenails. Shapely legs flashed between purple veils that floated from a low slung, glittering belt. The belt and top were heavy with swags of shining chains and dangling beadwork.
High, full breasts quivered, lovingly presented in the spangle-studded velvet bra. She arched back, swishing her thick fall of of glossy black hair around. Had to be fake hair, falling to well below her ass. It brushed the curve of her hips. Fanned out as she twirled.
He wanted to rip away all the scraps of filmy cloth and bling. See her bare-assed. Bare-breasted.
The deep curve of her waist was perfectly shaped for his fingers to grip. The curves and hollows of her belly and her hips looked so soft. Touchable.
His hands shook with the urge to reach, stroke. Seize.
The rush of erotic images ramped up his advanced visual processor into screaming overdrive. Even using custom designed shield specs, his AVP combat program was off and running, scrolling a thick column of data analysis past his inner eye.
The light level in this room could zap him right into a stress flashback if he didn’t protect his eyes. Plus, the dark shield strength contact lenses hid the animal flash of amber luminosity caused by his visual implants. Outsiders couldn’t be allowed to see that.
He wanted to throw everyone else out and lock the door. He wanted to gulp in the whole data flow. It was being filtered out in real time and lost forever, and it drove him . . . fucking . . . nuts.
One of Noah’s abilities is that he can see a person’s “energy signature.” His visual implants and augmented visual processing allow him to see colors and shades and subtleties that no one else can. He also has learned to interpret them. So by reading a person’s energy signature, he can sometimes also read their minds.
The dancer’s arms lifted, swayed. Her skin looked fine-grained, dewy and smooth. He inhaled her scent as she spun closer. Fresh, sweet, hot. Sun on the flowers. Rain on the grass.
Since what happened at Midlands, his senses were sharper than normal by orders of magnitude. He was reading her energy signature, right through the shield lenses. A cloud of brilliant moving colors surrounded her.
He felt hot, red. No control over his face. He was stuck here, nailed to the floor while everyone watched him watch her until the uncontrollable sensations subsided. Along with his colossal hard-on.
He had not felt this helpless since Midlands.
Her luminous green eyes met his and then flicked away, but the electric buzz of that split instant of intimacy jolted him to depths he’d never felt before.
He knew he’d never seen this woman before, and yet he recognized her.
Noah feels torn apart by feelings he has never experienced and has no tools to deal with. But in spite of the danger, in spite of his doubts, he has never wanted anything as badly as he wants to get closer to Caro—no matter the cost . . .
I hope you enjoy the mysterious and exciting new world of the Obsidian Files as much as I loved creating it! There is still so much yet to discover, so happy reading!
About the Author:
Shannon McKenna is the NYT and USA Today bestselling author of fifteen action packed, turbocharged romantic thrillers, among which are the stories of the wildly popular McCloud series. She’s also the author of the upcoming OBSIDIAN series, the first of which, RIGHT THROUGH ME, comes out in July of 2016. She loves tough and heroic alpha males, heroines with the brains and guts to match them, villains who challenge them to their utmost, adventure, scorching sensuality, and most of all, the redemptive power of true love.
Since she was small she has loved abandoning herself to the magic of a good book, and her fond childhood fantasy was that writing would be just like that, but with the added benefit of being able to take credit for the story at the end. The alchemy of writing turned out to be messier than she’d ever dreamed, but what the hell, she loves it anyway, and hopes that readers enjoy the results of her alchemical experiments. She loves to hear from her readers.
Connect with Shannon: Website | Facebook | Twitter
Book Loving Pixies 