Title: First and Last
Author: Rachael Duncan
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: July 18, 2016
Photographer: Perrywinkle Photography https://goo.gl/BF7jWX
Cover Designer: Cover Me Darling https://goo.gl/8HlkmZ
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29939768-first-and-last
Synopsis:
Mia’s my best friend. We’ve been inseparable since she moved next door when we were six years old. Then it
all changed. I don’t know when or why, but suddenly I want more. I want her. The problem was she
didn’t. At first. But everything changes when you cross that line between friends and lovers. I thought convincing her to give us a chance would be my biggest hurdle. Little did I
know that was only the beginning. Mia consumes all of my thoughts when we’re apart, and all of my senses when we’re
together. There’s no going back to the way things were and I’ll do whatever it takes to
make sure she isn’t just my first, but also my last. Will we be able to hold on, or will our relationship go up in flames?
***This is a friends to lovers romance that is a complete standalone.***
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/29es3nV
Amazon CA: https://goo.gl/tb8hm5
Amazon UK: https://goo.gl/upYWEv
Amazon AU: https://goo.gl/fxnCdk
What Others Are Saying:
“This was the second book I've read by Rachael, and she found a fan for life in me.” A.M. Madden, USA Today Bestselling author
“Duncan slayed this novel!”
“This story was AMAZING! I started it last night before bed and honestly, I could not put it
down.”
“Rachael, I have to say, this is your best work to date. BRAVO!! Definitely a 5 star read with a
major book hangover!”
Author Bio:
Rachael Duncan is an Army wife and mother to two beautiful girls. She grew up in
Nashville, Tennessee and went off to graduate from the University of Tennessee with a
bachelor's degree in political science. With initial plans to work in politics, she moved to
Washington, D.C. and worked on Capitol Hill for a House Representative. After a short
time, she realized it wasn't for her and began pursuing other careers until she started
writing. She's the author of Tackled by Love, The Lies and Truth Series, and Hopeless
Vows.
Social Media Links:
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/_EA3z
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachaelDuncanAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RachaelAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8434505.Rachael_Duncan
Blog: https://www.rachaelduncanauthor.blogspot.com
TSU: https://www.tsu.co/rachaelduncanauthor
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rachael-Duncan/e/B00N447WH8
Giveaway: $15 Amazon Gift Card (US and INT)
Embedded code:
<a class="rcptr" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/81aa7894975/" rel="nofollow" data-raflid="81aa7894975" data-theme="classic" data-template=""
id="rcwidget_wucweegv">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>
Direct link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/81aa7894975/
Chapter 1
Present
Thwack thwack thwack...thwack
The sound of the propellers is music to my ears. It’s the noise I live for and miss during
the offseason in the winter months. For me, the blades cutting through the air signals
excitement and adventure. Sitting in this small plane with four of my other colleagues, today is no different. I’m a smokejumper, which means I’m the type of firefighter who parachutes into
wildfires, stopping them before they spread. A small one has been spotted in the
northern part of the forest here in Redmond. It’s far from posing any real threat to
civilians, and it’s our job to keep it that way. But with the drought we’ve been having all
over Oregon and the strong winds from today, this thing could go from small to
completely uncontained real fucking quick. “ETA five minutes,” Chief shouts to us, letting us know we’re almost to the drop zone. I
give him a thumbs up in response. Standing up, I walk to the side door, brace both of my hands on either side of it, and lean
out the opening. A large, black cloud billows up from the trees and toward the sky, blanketing the ruthless flames I know are below. The wind bends the smoke, sending it
south and providing the ammunition it needs to grow. “What are the wind gusts?” I ask. “Twenty miles per hour from the north, northeast. It’s tough out there, so make sure you
stay above the ridge. You get too close in front of it, you’ll be fucked if it whips around.”
“Roger that.” A few minutes later, we’re in position and jumping out of the plane. My arms fold over
my reserve that’s strapped to the front of me as I free-fall, waiting for my parachute to
catch me. One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three—
My chute opens, jerking me in the process as it slows my descent. It’s always a good day
when your parachute opens like it’s supposed to. Reaching up, I grab my risers and pull
on the left one to steer me in the direction of my landing zone. There’s a really small
opening in the trees that we’re all aiming for. As long as I don’t hit any crazy down
drafts, I should make it. Otherwise, I’m landing in the trees, and that’ll suck balls. When my feet hit the ground, I’m pumped as adrenaline courses through my veins. There’s no other high like jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, and I can’t believe
someone pays me to do it. I’m quickly pulled back to the reason I’m here as my lungs
take in oxygen and protest because of the ash and smoke that’s polluting the air. We take off our jumpsuits, leaving us in a lightweight, long-sleeved shirt that’s flame
retardant with cargo pants. After our supply boxes are dropped in for us, we grab our
tools and hash out a plan.
“Alright, let’s get around on its west side, start clearing material and work from there,” my boss instructs. With our tools in hand, we make the two-mile hike to where we need to be. The closer
we get, the thicker the smell of burning wood gets. With each step, I get an ominous
feeling that moves up my spine. I try my best to shake it off, to tell myself this is any
other day at the office, but the thought won’t leave me alone. “You alright there, Blake?” Sam asks me. We’ve been buddies ever since we went
through the rookie course together. “Yeah, just feeling weird, I guess.”
“What about?” he asks with pinched eyebrows. “I don’t know.” I shake my head. “It’s nothing.” He slaps me on the back a few times and
we keep trekking. We’ve been chopping away at the small brush for about an hour now. It’s back breaking
work, but we’re finally making progress. I wipe the sweat off my brow with my sleeve before tilting my head back and looking up
at the sky. The smoke looks like it’s blowing directly over us. If that’s the case, then it’s
likely the fire will start to move toward us, and that’s not a good thing. “Hey, Chick, you keeping tabs on the wind?” I ask our chief, using his nickname. “Yeah, reports say it’s coming in from the northeast last I checked.”
“You sure? I’ve been watching and I think it’s shifted.” Both of us look upward through
the trees. “Okay, keep working and I’ll watch it. If it is coming this way, we need to have as much
of this cleared as possible, anyway to slow the fire.” With a simple nod, I get back to work, but this feels wrong. We need to move before we
get boxed in. “I got a bad feeling about this,” I tell Sam quietly as I swing my ax at some more brush. “We need to get out of here.”
“Relax, man. Chick’s watching the wind. He knows what he’s doing.” I try to repeat his
words to convince myself, but this small voice inside my head won’t shut the hell up. Thirty minutes later, we’re still working down the line, but the sound of the inferno is
getting louder. I glance over at my boss every now and then to make sure he’s keeping
tabs on this. It’s not even two minutes later that he’s telling us we need to move
positions. Looking through the gaps in the trees, I see the flames flickering, taunting us, letting us know who’s in charge here.
Without delay, we head back down south to move around and get a better angle of attack
on this expanding monster. Sweat runs down my face as the blast of the heat hits me
from my left. When everything is this dry, it’s not uncommon for the fire to jump from
one tree to the next instead of slowly crawling to it. That’s what’s making me nervous
right now. With us being this close, one of these embers could float over and ignite on
the other side of us and we’d be surrounded. Then we’d be fucked. Right as this thought crosses my mind, I look ahead and see the worst-case scenario. Up
in front of us is a wall of fire with a narrow path through the middle. “Should we try to go around?” Sam asks. “Who knows how far it goes. There’s a small opening. We need to hurry and get the hell
out of here,” Chick tells us. Crouching down low, we all start running through this tunnel of fury. The crackling of
the burning forest and roar of the blaze is deafening. I feel it at my back, orange and red
fingers clawing at me, trying to engulf me, but I keep pushing on. A loud pop sounds to my left. I stop and look just in time to see a huge tree coming down. “Watch out!” I shout. I dive out of the way, the tree narrowly missing me. “Son of a
bitch,” I mutter to myself. Getting up, I look back and see the tree is blocking my way out
of here. Worse, it’s now separating me from the rest of the team. “You okay, Blake?” Chick yells. “Yeah, you guys go. I’ll go around and meet up with you at the drop zone,” I say over the
flames. “Okay, watch your ass.”
“Roger that.” Hurrying back the way I came, I get the hell out of this burning trap and head back west
to try to move around this thing. With any luck, it hasn’t spread too far in that direction
and I can get back on course soon. I hike for forty-five minutes before I’m in the clear and can move south again. All looks
good headed this way, and I’m thankful for that. The terrain is steep, with numerous
cliffs around. It’s hell to traverse with all of my gear and I find myself stepping the wrong
way on the loose gravel, losing my footing. I fall back on my ass and tumble down the side of this hill with no control. My hands
reach out for anything to grab hold of to stop myself, but I’m going too fast. When I see
the ledge I’m quickly approaching, I go into panic mode. With every ounce of strength
within me, I dig my heels and hands into the ground in a desperate attempt to stop. I
slow down, but it’s not enough. Right before I fall over the edge, there’s only one thing going through my mind.
Mia.
No comments:
Post a Comment