Parallax

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. 

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Six years later, Trent Wayland still isn’t over his spring fling. Probably because he was convinced when he married Captain Leila O’Neil, their fling would go on a lifetime. Leila is his soul mate and Trent knows it. He might not admit it on a regular basis, but that doesn’t negate the raw emotion she draws out of him each and every time he thinks about her. Forget the fact his heart splits in two all over again when he’s afforded the luxury of hearing her voice. That doesn’t happen often, however. Leila only tosses a handful of words his way when she initiates the weekly video calls he’s allowed with the other love of his life, their daughter Lucy.

 

Once upon a time, Leila O’Neil wanted to be a Marine when she grew up. She worked hard, she landed a seat at the Academy, and she was the head of her class. Then her dream was destroyed and she traded it in for a new one at the nearest Coterie portal. She wears so many faces and so many hats, at some point she lost track of her soul. That didn’t really bother her until Trent Wayland came along and almost peeled her dressing room curtain back nearly exposing her innermost person. The real person, the real Leila, who once upon a time wanted to be a Marine when she grew up.

 

Leila misses the real person, and realizes it at the worst possible moment. With her daughter’s life on the line and Trent on the scene of the crime, Leila figures out she’s been using her hurt and anger to fuel all the wrong goals. In a daring move, she puts it all on the line, hoping it’s enough to gain her freedom from her handlers and her husband’s forgiveness.

read an excerpt...

“How is it we’re in the middle of the biggest crisis of our lives and I’m so damn mad at you I want to hate you, but can’t?” Trent said, inching closer to her lips. “How is it, I want you so much I’d sell a piece of my soul to the devil to have you?”

“I’ve sold plenty of pieces of mine,” Leila whispered, straining against his hold, trying to bridge the gap between them. “It only hurts for a minute.”

His lips barely brushed hers before a tortured groan rolled out of him and tightened his grip. “Damn it,” he hissed over his teeth.

He turned loose of her so quickly Leila took a bounced step back before finding purchase of her balance again as he threw his hands up and turned his back to her. Running his hands over his head, his breaths were labored and his shoulders shook with what Leila suspected to be the same raw emotions running through her own system.

Leila stayed the desire to take the few steps between them and drop kick him to the floor where he’d be at her mercy for a tortured few moments. Instead, she jerked her robe over her shoulders, tugged it around her middle, and in one swift motion tied the belt.

about Dixie Jackson...

Born and raised in the heart of the Ozarks, Dixie Jackson learned a love of the written word at a young age. She remembers spinning tales before she could even write them down, but it was the encouragement of her sixth-grade creative writing teacher which would plant the idea that just never seemed to go away. She wanted to someday see her works in print.

Dixie makes her home in the Great Smoky Mountains with her retired Marine husband, two rescue dogs, and her beloved chickens. When she’s not writing, you can find her digging in the dirt and nurturing her plants while plotting the next step in one story line or another. She also loves experimenting in her kitchen, embroidering, quilting, crocheting, tracing her family’s twisted tree, and of course reading.

 

You can find Dixie at:

Blog: https://www.dixiejackson.net

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sweetteamafia/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19160992

Instagram: @dixiejwriter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dixiejacksonauthor/

Amazon: amazon.com/author/dixiejackson

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/dixie-jackson

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more personal "stuff" about Dixie Jackson...

Does this book have a special meaning to you? i.e. where you found the idea, its symbolism, its meaning, who you dedicated it to, what made you want to write it?

FET: Female Engagement Team. Military females sent out as a group to interact with their female counterparts in combat zones and collect intelligence.

Yes, it’s as dangerous as it sounds. My husband is a thirty-year veteran of the Marine Corps. That’s how I know about these gals. While I never officially met one of these ladies, I heard much scuttle about them and was enthralled with their role in the Middle East situation. They worked primarily in the intelligence field and were tough as nails. Out of my research and endless questions about FETs, Leila O’Neil from Parallax was born. But she wasn’t just part of a FET, she was a Marine by day and a dark operator for a secret government agency by night. And once she was embedded firmly in my mind’s eye, her story grew, and grew, and grew. I discovered when I created my own world and stepped outside the box of strict contemporary romance thinking, I could create situations and consequences that might not otherwise seem reasonable or realistic in mainstream fiction. I loved the latitude that gave me insofar as creative space. And then Leila’s world expanded and before I knew it, I had a full-blown series on my hands filled with second-chances, redemptions, and kick-butt heroines who could hold their own in any situation.

Where do you get your storylines from?

Everywhere. I know, I know. That’s a pretty cop out answer. But it’s also so very true. Sometimes I start with a character’s name, sometimes with just a story idea, or sometimes a title floats through my mind and I start from there. All that being said, I take my ideas from all around me and I carry a notebook everywhere I go so as to be able to jot down a note or forty when ideas and such come to me.

Do you only write one genre?

Technically, I fancy myself a romance writer. Not so technically, I’m a bit of women’s fiction, a dash of suspense/thriller, a pinch of mainstream contemporary, a drop or two of military fiction, and a heaping dose of romance tossed in. I don’t believe in living inside a box and I’m all for coloring outside the lines.

Give us a picture of where you write, where you compose these words…is it Starbucks, a den, a garden…we want to know your inner sanctum?

I share an office space with my husband. It’s a pretty large room that houses both our desks and a couple of bookshelves with all our favorite reads on them. I have these gorgeous eclectic curtains in bright colors and a rug to match. And my desk faces a huge picture window and on the other side of the glass we have several bird feeders set up so I can watch the birds while I’m sitting here. My writing space rocks!

And finally, of course…was there any specific event or circumstance that made you want to be a writer?

I have always felt a pull to write my stories down, even before I could spell truth be told, however, I had a couple of teachers who really encouraged me along the way. My sixth-grade creative writing teacher was the first person to tell me he believed I’d be published someday. That really set the ball in motion as far as believing in the dream. My English teacher from high school was a great influence on me, as well. As far as what I currently write, romance and romantic suspense, my husband has been my biggest cheerleader and has encouraged me along the way; his career in the military has spurred nearly every story line I’ve published into fruition.

Thanks so much for hosting me today!