Inevitable by Inger Iversen
(A Love and War)
Publication date: February 28th 2015
Genres: Adult, Contemporary,
Synopsis:
A Love and War stand Alone
These DO NOT NEED to be read in any order
I crashed and opened my eyes . . . there you were, fierce and protective, and I knew . . . I just knew it was you all along.
Ex-Marine Trent Reed has been shot at, in a coma, and placed in war zones, but when his best friend calls in a favor, he is faced with the most dangerous situation yet—to be the best man. Trent’s turbulent past with races other than his own taints his view on the interracial marriage, and he’s none too happy to deal with the ill-tempered maid of honor. To accept the position means understanding that his friend is soon to be out of his life—for good.
Tough-girl Teal Lofton has struggled all of her adult life, from her weight to the color of her skin holding her back in work and love. When she agrees to be the maid of honor in her friend’s wedding, a hormonal bride and a jerk of a best man who she is strangely, yet wildly, attracted to, amplify those struggles.
As tensions and tempers rise, Trent disappears with the wedding rings and Teal braves a snowstorm to bring them back, determined to fix yet another problem. But a tragic accident brings together the unlikely pair, forcing them to face the prejudices of their pasts. In doing so, Trent and Teal embark on an inevitable course of self-discovery and passion like they’ve never experienced before—until a secret from Trent’s past threatens to destroy it all.
EXCERPT
The taste of metal filled Trent’s mouth, along with the sound
of bees swarming in his head. Confusion took over, before the muffled sounds of
a man speaking pulled Trent from his darkened haze. He forced himself to crack
open his eyes and a sharp pain shot through his head.
Heavy snow fell around him, yet not his face.
Opening his eyes wider he could see the blurred face of a man holding something
over Trent’s head. He realized the covering was meant to protect him from the
snow. Trent moved gingerly, but his arms felt weighted and his body barely
responded to his commands. The voice came again, a bit clearer than before.
Trent had momentarily forgotten where he was
and what was going on. His mind raced with visions of war and his body ached.
He worried about the effects of PTSD in situations like this. Luckily, he
didn’t have to think about that too long. Memory of what actually happened
popped into his consciousness and his eyes shot open with worry.
“There you are.” An unfamiliar voice said
calmly. Trent’s eyes took a moment to focus. The face of his neighbor came into
view. “Don’t move just yet. You might have broken something.” The man looked
him over as if he could tell just by looking.
Trent didn’t feel any pain, just confusion.
“W—where’s the woman?” Trent asked, ignoring the man’s futile attempts to get
him to stay down. He turned over and propped himself up on his bruised elbow.
Looking around, he searched for a flash of gold dress and dark skin. His head
ached and whatever wounds he’d sustained finally started to make their presence
known. He shook his head, but it cleared nothing and only left him a bit dizzy.
The man pointed over past the driveway. “Your
woman is over there. My wife and I didn’t want to move her. You were out for
about five minutes.” Trent listened as he struggled to stand. He glanced over,
only seeing a bright red blur in the darkness. “I still think you should stay
down until a rescue squad gets here.”
Trent shook his head, meaning to tell the man
no, but this time, he effectively shook off some of the fog. He stood on
unsteady feet and glanced over to the only road leading to their cabins. “Look
over there.” He pointed. “How are they even going to get in here if they make
it here at all?” He stumbled over to the woman in a bright red coat. As he got
closer, he saw Teal on the ground covered up, but still unconscious. The woman
held a phone to her ear, but was silent as if she were on hold.
As each second passed, the fog in Trent’s head
lessened and he was more aware of how serious their situation was becoming the
longer Teal didn’t wake up. Thoughts swarmed his head, spurning him into
action. He needed to get her inside, but moving her would be tricky.
Behind him, the man walked over and spoke to
his wife. “What’d they say?”
The woman looked up with a sullen look on her
face. “Roads are closed, the snow is too heavy.” She looked worriedly at Trent
as the harsh cold wind whipped her hair into her face. “They can’t get anyone
out to us yet.”
Regardless, Trent understood that in Teal’s
situation, she couldn’t stay lying in the snow. He turned to the man. “Help me
get her inside and on the bed. I’ll start a fire and warm her up.” He glanced
around, searching for something to move her with. His body shook and sharp
pains and aches assaulted him whenever he moved.
The woman looked warily at Trent. “Are you
sure we should move her?” She glanced at her husband with a frown. Trent didn’t
want to move her and possibly cause more injury, but as it seemed, rescue was
most likely not coming anytime soon and Teal would freeze to death out here.
The thought made his chest ache. He’d served in the military and there was no
such thing as an ex-soldier. The things you learned lasted a lifetime and he
been in worse predicaments than this. There was no way he’d let her die out
here alone in the damned cold. The man seemed to agree with Trent’s unspoken
thoughts and moved to Teal’s feet.
Still she shook her head, undeterred. “Honey,
I’m not sure about this. I think moving her could mess with any possible
injury. I mean, what if she has a broken spine or something?” The woman glanced
back down at Teal and took her hand in hers.
Trent understood her fear, as it was his as
well. But he had a plan. “Sir,” he called to the man.
“Lee. Call me Lee.”
Trent nodded. “I can move her, but I need a
flat sturdy surface, like a door or table, I only have one door in my cabin and
I can’t remove the entrance . . .”
“Lee,” the woman called to her husband and
threw keys to him. “Go to the cabin and break down the bathroom door and bring
it out.”
Trent raised a brow at the force in her tone.
Thankfully, Lee didn’t think twice, and he took off in a mad dash toward the
cabin. Trent used this time to stagger inside his own cabin, grabbing all the
sheets off the bed and heading back to Teal. He placed them around her as best
he could.
Logan was going to flat out kill Trent when
this was over. He felt her pulse and it beat strong in her chest. Her breathing
was also steady, and there were no head injuries other than the gash on her
forehead. It wouldn’t even need stitches. If they were lucky, she’d just been
knocked out and would wake up fine.
GIVEAWAY
AUTHOR BIO
Inger Iversen was born in 1982 to Anne and Kaii Iversen. She lives in Virginia Beach with her overweight lap cat, Max and her tree hugging boyfriend Joshua. She spends 90 percent of her time in Barnes and Noble and the other ten pretending not to want to be in Barnes and Noble.
Author Links:
Wow what a story! I read the excerpt and thought I was watching a movie. Congratulations are in order. I guess I have get it now to see what happens. Oh thank you for the giveaway, aha, that is my main objective, THE FIRE😂Good luck too!!!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved booked one in this series and was excited to know that Teal and Trent would get a book too!! I can't wait to read this one.. thanks for sharing the excerpt!!!
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