Ryan Kendall is broken. He understands pain.
He knows the hand of violence and the ache of loss. He knows what it means to
fail those who need you. Being broken doesn’t stop him wanting the one thing he
can’t have; Finlay Tanner. Her smile is sweet and her future bright. She’s the
girl he grew up with, the girl he loves, the girl he protects from the world,
and from himself.
At nineteen, Ryan leaves to join the Australian Army. After
years of training he becomes an elite SAS soldier and deploys to the
Afghanistan war. His patrol undertakes the most dangerous missions a soldier
can face. But no matter how far he runs, or how hard he fights, his need for
Finlay won’t let go.
Returning home after six years, one look is all it takes to know
he can’t live without her. But sometimes love isn’t enough to heal what hurts.
Sometimes people like him can’t be fixed, and sometimes people like Finlay
deserve more than what’s left.
This is a story about war and the cost of sacrifice. Where bonds
are formed, and friendships found. Where those who are strong, fall hard. Where
love is let go, heartache is born, and heroes are made. Where one man learns
that the hardest fight of all, is the fight to save himself.
Title – Fighting Redemption
Author – Kate McCarthy
Genre – Contemporary
Romance
Expected Release Date – December
2, 2013
Later that morning after their workout and shower, Jake fell
asleep on the couch. Feeling at a loss with nothing but time on his hands, Ryan
wandered down the hall towards Fin’s room. She was sitting at a little study
nook in the corner, laptop open with one foot resting on her chair. She was
wearing a tank top and a little pair of shorts. Leaning up against the
doorframe, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from those long, delectable legs.
As though sensing his presence, she turned in her chair. He
forced his eyes upwards, catching a sexy flush fill her cheeks at his blatant
perusal.
“Morning, Ryan.” She took off her black framed reading
glasses and tossed them on the desk.
“Morning, Fin,” he replied.
Against his better judgement, Ryan pushed away from the door
and walked farther into the room. Fin hadn’t changed at all and neither had his
desire for her. His heart kicked over when she met his eyes. He knew everything
he was feeling right now was written all over him, but he couldn’t seem to shut
it off.
Her eyelids fluttered closed and she whispered, “Why now?”
Ryan took a deep breath. “I don’t know,” he replied honestly.
He shouldn’t still be feeling this way after so many years.
Why was he doing this to her, and to himself? It was better for everyone if he stayed
away like he was supposed to.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come. I’ll go stay at the
barracks.” He turned to leave.
“Ryan!” she called out. Scrambling out of the chair, she
grabbed his arm as he was halfway out the door.
“Fin,” he warned, looking down at her hand pointedly.
She took a step closer and he breathed her in, her scent like
jasmine on a hot summer’s day. He was surprised when he looked into her eyes
and saw anger burning hotly in their depths.
“Six years, Ryan. Do you know how hurt I was, each day
passing by and getting nothing—not even a note or an email? I didn’t just lose
you. I lost my brother too. Both of you left me, and I was okay with that. I
understood that this was what you needed to do, so I moved on. I built a life
that doesn’t include you. That was what I
had to do.” She paused and raised a shaky hand to cup his cheek. “I’d have
given you my entire heart if you’d only asked, but it’s not yours now. It’s not
yours.”
Ryan closed his eyes, agony for losing what was never his
rose in his chest until he felt strangled by it. He placed his hand over hers,
holding it there until she tugged it away.
“You’re right,” Fin told him. “You should stay on the
barracks … but I don’t want you to. Damn you, Ryan,” she whispered fiercely. “I
don’t want you to.”
Ryan used his bulk to crowd her against the wall until there
was no room for her to move. Leaning one hand against the wall, he grabbed her
hip with the other. Her breathing rose rapidly and he leaned in, ducking his
head until their mouths hovered a mere breath apart.
“Why can’t I force myself to leave?” He rested his forehead
against hers and closed his eyes. “I hurt too. For six years I fought every day
not to think of you, and I lost, because every day you were all I could see.
You were the best thing in my life—so sweet and innocent, and so goddamn
tempting.” His hand strayed from her hip and slid down to grip her ass. He
swallowed the groan. “I stayed away so you could move on.”
Kate McCarthy grew up in a small town
outside of Port Macquarie, Australia. Raised in a house just a short walk to
the beach, Kate enjoyed the peaceful, relaxed atmosphere and friendships that
come from being raised in a friendly, small town area.She now resides in Brisbane, Australia, a city in the state of Queensland where she works as an accountant, along with a sideline wedding cake business and her writing.
She is married with two children, has two dogs and house in the suburbs, and a pile of friends and family dotted all over the country that help keep her sane.
When she’s not busy running after naughty kids, filthy dogs, crunching numbers, piping buttercream and writing books, you can find her curled up in bed in the early hours of the morning reading new books and re-reading old favourites. Her favourite books are the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward in which she longs to eventually join the brotherhood and change her name to Phierce Mutha.
