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Heart of a Seal

Hearts of Valor #1

By Dixie Lee Brown

Releasing April 10th, 2018

Lyrical Liasson

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They're brothers in arms, Navy SEALS risking their lives for their country . . . and the women they love. This is Luke Harding's story.

Six months in a desert hellhole taught Navy SEAL Luke Harding things he never wanted to learn about life and death. Only tender memories of the beautiful brunette he met a few weeks before his deployment helped get him through the torturous days and nights. Back in the States after a perilous rescue, physically and emotionally damaged, Luke's about to plunge into a new kind of war. In a seemingly bucolic Idaho town, Sally Duncan faces real-and unpredictable-danger.

All Sally ever wanted was a safe place to raise her nine-year-old daughter. Her identity hidden behind a facade of secrets and lies, can she trust Luke-a man she barely knows-with the truth? Even as they give in to long-denied passion, a killer with a personal vendetta is setting an ambush that will leave them praying for a miracle and fighting for the future they may not live to see.

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In Heart of a Seal (Hearts of Valor #1) by Dixie Lee Brown, Luke Harding survived six months of torture at the hands of very dangerous men all because of Sally and her daughter. Returning home was hard, but now Luke is determined to go after what he wants and that's a future with Sally. However, when Luke discovers Sally is in trouble, he'll do anything to keep her safe. Will Luke be able to protect Sally and her daughter or will he lose his chance at happy ever after with the woman he loves?

This action-packed, fast-paced, plot-twisting story was very entertaining and had me hooked right from the beginning due to all the main characters have been through in the past, what they go through on their journey to happy ever after, and the fact that Ms. Brown kept me guessing as to the person after Sally. Why is Sally being targeted? What happened in her past that makes someone want to come after her? However, it was from the moment the hero and heroine come face-to-face for the first time in this story that had me reading quickly, determined to discover whether Sally would give Luke a chance after things that have happened in the past that hurt her.

As for the dialogue, it was intense and had me on the edge-of-my-seat at times because of the danger the hero and heroine face and whether they'll come out on top of the bad guys. Will Luke be able to keep Sally and her daughter safe? Moreover, the heroine is resilient, courageous and I liked that she wasn't afraid to stand up for herself because no way is she going to go down without a fight when it comes to whoever is after her. I also liked how protective she was of the hero, which is proven by what she does throughout this story. Will she end up going things alone or will she put her trust in Luke? Yet, what I liked most of all is the bond Sally shares with her daughter, even though her pregnancy shouldn't have happened the way it did.

While the hero, he's been through a lot and I could understand why he suffers the nightmares he does. Yet, he's strong, a survivor and I liked how protective he was of the heroine and her daughter. No way would he let anything happen to them, especially because he wants them in his life for a long time to come. I also liked the bond the hero shared with his brothers in arms and that they were all in and willing to help Luke in his time of need to protect the heroine. However, what I liked most of all about the hero was his determination to win over the heroine, as he's always had strong feelings for her and he saw her as his angel; the one that helped him to hold on through his ordeal at the hands of bad guys instead of giving up.

Overall, Ms. Brown has delivered a really good read in this book where the chemistry between this couple was strong; the romance was hot and shows how good these two are together and are for each other; the secondary characters have me looking forward to future books for this series; and the ending had me concerned for the main characters, but had me liking how everything works out for the best because these two are so deserving of forever together after everything that's happened in their pasts to make them the strong people they are. Then again, Luke is not letting Sally get away again, which is proven by what he does. How could the heroine not give him what he wants? I would recommend Heart of a Seal by Dixie Lee Brown, if you enjoy romantic suspense, second chance romances, the friends to lovers trope, or books by authors AJ Nuest, Monica McCabe, Sheryl Nantus and Katie Reus.

Screaming wasn’t really Sally’s style. The best she could do at the moment was crawl out of the reach of the enraged lunatic and hope he came to his senses.

“Go ahead. Touch her again and see what happens.” The suggestion, coming from the darkness behind Emmett’s vehicle and delivered with steel-edged composure, took her completely by surprise.

Sally swung toward the new player, forgetting Emmett for the moment. The voice was all too familiar, stirring unwelcome memories. Eyes watering from Emmett’s blow, she squinted to see the man standing in the darkness just beyond her yard.

“Luke?” Sally staggered to her feet, clenching her teeth against the sick feeling that swirled in her stomach.

It couldn’t be him. Not the man she’d fallen hard for before he deployed with his SEAL unit over a year ago. Not the man who’d refused to see her when she hurried to the hospital in Bethesda after hearing he’d been rescued from a terrorist prison. Rushing to his side because she’d thought they meant something to each other, she’d quickly learned the truth of the matter. His disregard had let her know, in no uncertain terms, that the feelings had been one-sided. That man had no reason—or right—to show up at her door.

Sally searched the shadows near the street, where the voice had originated. When she finally made out his silhouette, her breath caught in her throat.

Luke didn’t spare her a glance.

“Who the hell are you?” Emmett turned to face him.

“Does it matter?” Luke’s words contained a dangerous warning that Sally had never heard before.

As he stepped from the shadow of the SUV, his military fatigues and the duffel he carried reminded her of the homeless people who’d camped on Elk Creek last fall. A knife in a leather sheath hung at his side. His face was etched with lines of exhaustion, and he might have carried himself stiffly, but otherwise he was the same man she remembered. Light brown hair, longer and a bit more disheveled than the last time she’d seen him, always tempted her to run her fingers through it…even now.

Dixie Lee Brown lives and writes in Central Oregon, inspired by gorgeous scenery and at least three hundred sunny days a year. Having moved from South Dakota as a child to Washington, Montana and then to Oregon, she feels at home in the west. She resides with two dogs and a cat, who are currently all the responsibility she can handle. Dixie works fulltime as a bookkeeper. When she's not writing or working, she loves to read, enjoys movies, and if it were possible, she’d spend all of her time at the beach. She is also the author of the Trust No One romantic suspense series, published by Avon Impulse.

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