Letting Go: A Contemporary Romance of Snark and Feels

by Abbie Zanders

Genres: Contemporary Romance; Military Romance; Small-town Romance; contemporary romance; small town romance; disabled character; military hero; all the feels; Standalone Romance

Synopsis

When it comes to love, no mission is impossible.

After learning her father has ALS, Hannah McGinnis returns home to Muskrat Falls, determined to oversee his care --- whether he likes it or not. Dealing with an imperfect health care system and her gruff, abrasive father is a challenge, but Hannah is every bit as stubborn as he is.

Colonel Angus McGinnis, US Army Rangers, Ret. knows he hasn't been an ideal father but before he ships out, he's made it his mission to see his daughter happy and settled with a man worthy of her, one who will love her and treat her like the amazing woman she is. It's got to be a covert mission though, because if Hannah realizes what he's up to, she'll mount her own campaign ... of resistance.

A year after an IED ended his military career, former US Army Ranger Medic Sergeant Ethan O'Malley is finally ready to put his life back together. The first step is accepting a position as a live-in caretaker to his father's old Army buddy. The second will be getting the Colonel's feisty daughter to accept him. The hostile yet intriguing Hannah isn't going to make it easy for him, but Ethan is committed and he hasn't failed a mission yet.

Three headstrong, determined people. Three important missions. Having a plan Bravo isn't going to be enough; to succeed, they're each going to need plans Charlie, Delta, and Foxtrot, too.

Release date: February 15, 2017

Publisher: Abbie Zanders Romance

Print pages: 218

Sample

(Ethan)

I never heard her coming. I don’t know if I was caught up in my thoughts or if she was really that quiet, but it was unusual for someone to be able to sneak up on me like that. One minute I’m admiring the tongue-and-groove porch ceiling above me and the next I’m hearing this velvety voice that made my balls tighten.

My dad’s big form blocked my attempts to see what was attached to that voice. His shoulders shrugged and he bent down, and that sexy voice turned into a squeal of delight. Then I saw a pair of small hands - fairy hands - appear on either side of my dad’s waist as he picked her up and gave her a hug.

Telling, that. My dad was not a hugger.

Since her hands were the only parts of her that I could see, I focused on them. Small, like I said. Delicate, feminine fingers. Short nails, neat and trimmed but devoid of any color. Definitely not the hands of the ballbreaker I’d been dreading.

Then my father released her and stepped aside, and for a few moments I forgot how to breathe.

She was nothing like I’d expected. Tiny - I’d eat my hat if she topped five-two, with dark chestnut hair pulled back from elfin features in a jaunty ponytail and black-rimmed spectacles (the functional, not fashionable, kind). An oversized olive-green T sporting the words “Army Brats Do It Better” extended down to mid-thigh, with tiny little fairy-like bare feet peeking out from the cuffs of her faded Levi’s. 

But it was her eyes that commanded my complete attention. Huge, soft, dove-gray eyes that made something foreign and fierce rise up deep inside me. 

This was the woman my father had been warning me about? This adorable, sweet little creature? Every male instinct I possessed went into instant overdrive. No wonder Dad was so adamant about getting me out here. The sneaky bastard knew I wouldn’t be able to say no once I saw the situation. Saw her.

Well-played, old man.

Those amazing eyes turned on me. Her brilliant, if weary, smile grew wary as she checked me out, too. Her head tilted upward to look up at my face, and I felt the effect in my manliest of bits.

“Hello,” she said, her tone clipped and not nearly as affectionate as the one she used with my father. I opened my mouth to respond, but she was already turning away, refocusing on my dad and leaving me feeling somewhat lacking. It stunned me a little, because it was not the kind of first response I was used to, especially not from those of the female persuasion. Usually I got an appreciative glance, a coy smile, a flare of heat. I’m not bragging; I never did understand what it was that women seemed to like about me, but I wasn’t stupid enough to overanalyze it, either.

She said something else - I was still kind of reeling from the blatant brush-off and I missed it - but I heard my dad’s answering rumble.

“Ethan is,” he said. “He’s going to be helping you out for a while.”

The grateful, relieved reaction I was expecting never came. Instead, she stepped back as if slapped. I watched the transformation take place with fascination. The soft gray of her eyes grew cloudy and tinged with purple, the exact shade of the sky right before a late summer thunderstorm. Lightning flashed in those stormy eyes and her body grew rigid. She crossed her arms over her chest defensively and flicked a glance my way, as if this was all my idea.

A shiver ran the length of my spine and settled in my balls. It was not unpleasant. 

I sensed my father holding his breath. This might be over before it even started. A couple of well-chosen words and I could be out of here in a minute, maybe less. For some reason, that thought wasn’t nearly as appealing as it would have been a few minutes ago. Before a little fairy pinned me with accusing eyes and called out my inner caveman.

And hell, I’d already agreed. Suddenly, I was feeling pretty damn committed to this mission.

“Doesn’t he have a job? A life?” She was speaking to my father but looking directly at me again, all puffed up like a kitten anxious to sharpen her claws on me. Yeah, call me crazy, but I was man enough to be her scratching post. I offered her my lethal half-smile, the one guaranteed to soften her up and have her panties wet in a matter of seconds.

“Nope. I’m all yours, kitten.”

Her eyes narrowed at me; those pretty pink lips formed a fierce scowl. My cock hardened.

“I have no use for you,” she spat, turning on her heel and all but stomping toward her father’s room and cementing my resolve to stay.