Kallypso Masters has a surprise new release!
The fifth book in the Rescue Me Saga released Dec. 9. While we all were expecting it to be time for Luke and Cassie, Kally’s recent battle with cancer derailed those plans. But not wanting to disappoint her fans, she wrote what was going to be a book about half this size but just kept growing so that she could give her fans a book this fall as promised.
NOBODY’S LOST is about two characters who have had minor roles to this point in the Rescue Me Saga, but who will play a large part in the future books in the series, including NOBODY’S DREAM (Luke’s book which will release by March 4, 2015 now that Kally’s cancer free and able to concentrate on it again.)
Haven’t read Kally’s books before? No problem! NOBODY’S LOST provides readers with a new entry point to the series. However, most readers enjoy and understand the depth of these stories much more so when they read in order, starting with the first book, MASTERS AT ARMS & NOBODY’S ANGEL (almost 500 pages in print!), which is FREE everywhere. That’s the ideal place to start! Here’s the reading order for all available books (including preorders):
MASTERS AT ARMS & NOBODY’S ANGEL (FREE!)
NOBODY’S HERO
NOBODY’S PERFECT
SOMEBODY’S ANGEL
NOBODY’S LOST (releases Dec. 9–available for preorder one more day)
NOBODY’S DREAM (releases March 4 at latest–available for preorder)
Nobody’s Lost
| (Coming Dec. 15 to All Romance eBooks and Google Play, as well)
A standalone novel about two characters with very minor mentions in the earlier books.
Ryder Wilson returned from serving multiple deployments but can’t leave the hell of combat behind him. Frustrated and ashamed of his inability to function in the world as well as the veterans he served with, he retreated, choosing to engage only with those he trusted. When retired Master Sergeant Adam Montague sends him on a mission to protect his sister from some unknown danger, Ryder’s days of hiding out may be over. Can he fulfill his mission without failing again?
Megan Gallagher has two big-brother Marines bent on protecting her from the evils of the world, but she’s tougher than they think. When her older brother sends Ryder, one of his recon Marines, to her doorstep in the wee hours one night following a break-in, she realizes he needs rescuing more than she does. A friendship forms quickly, but unexpected passions run hot and complicate her resolve never to have a romantic relationship, much less marriage. So why are her body and her heart betraying her every time he comes near?
Can these two wounded people lower their defenses long enough to allow love to grow?
The main characters in this book have appeared briefly in earlier Rescue Me Saga books, but this story can be read as a standalone novel and is a new entry point into this ongoing series. Megan and Ryder will appear in later books in the Rescue Me Saga.
An Excerpt from Nobody’s Lost: Fallujah, Iraq, 15 November 2004
Ryder Wilson enjoyed talking with Lance Corporal Grant. She was young, but sure as hell knew her shit when it came to advanced satellite communications.
His recon Marine unit had been on this rooftop in Fallujah for hours, waiting for something to break and to go after the insurgents who had terrorized this part of the city for the last few days.
Too damned quiet. Sergeant Miller suggested they eat in shifts while they could. He was informing Damián Orlando of the SITREP while Ryder spent time getting to know the Marine newly attached to their unit.
Didn’t usually find women Marines assigned to combat units, although the cease-fire they were under meant they probably wouldn’t have any direct engagement. He hoped not anyway.
“So where are you from?” Grant asked.
“Born and raised in New Mexico. Albuquerque. How about you?”
“Army brat. I’ve lived all over and then some.”
“That why you enlisted?”
Silence dragged out before she responded. “I guess so. Pissed my dad off that I didn’t choose the Army, but I had something to prove to myself. I just hope I’m still in when women Marines are allowed to serve in combat.”
“Not so sure that’s a good idea.”
She sat up straighter and glared at him. “Why not? I can perform just as—”
“Grenade!”
Orlando’s voice jarred them from the conversation. He and Sergeant Miller were hurtling across the rooftop in their direction when the sound of an explosion threw Ryder against the wall he’d been leaning on. His ears rang from the blast. They were under fire.
Momentarily dazed, Ryder tried to remember what he had been doing, but his focus shifted to protecting Lance Corporal Grant. She was his responsibility and shouldn’t be in the middle of this shit.
“Get behind me,” he said picking up his rifle.
“Sergeant Miller and Orlando have been hit.” Ignoring him, she moved toward the two fallen Marines, and he followed.
“Madre de Dios! No! Sergeant, don’t you fucking die!”
Orlando was lying under the body of Sergeant Miller. Holy fuck! Ryder and Grant reached the body at about the same time and lifted their Sergeant off Orlando with reverence and speed combined.
“Corpsman up!” Ryder called. Once they had set Sergeant’s body down, they returned to check on Orlando.
Jesus, no. His foot dangled by what looked like some skin and meat alone. Where was Doc? Grant grabbed Orlando’s hand and spoke to him. Ryder had never seen so much carnage in all his years serving in the Marines.
Ryder moved so Doc could assess the situation and keep Orlando alive.
“Keep his head down!” Doc ordered, and Ryder moved to his head where he placed one hand on the young private’s forehead and another on his shoulder. Ryder filled Doc in on what had happened, but the mention of Sergeant’s name had him glancing over at the man’s head.
So much blood.
The hiss of an RPG made it clear the attack was still under way. Ryder realized he hadn’t done his damned job. He radioed their immediate need for artillery and air support with their preplanned fire coordinates.
Doc shouted, “Let’s get him off the roof!”
“Sure thing, Doc!” With Doc’s help, he and Grant lifted an unconscious Orlando onto a litter…
* * *
Just after midnight
Ryder rolled over in bed, drenched in sweat. His heart pounding, he gasped for breath. Fucking nightmares. He laid his arm over his eyes, but the images came back in living color. Vivid, but different than the one the other night.
Blast.
Brains.
Blood.
Sergeant Miller’s lifeless body. Damián Orlando’s foot blown off. Doc D’Alessio nearly killed.
Jesus, he’d fucked up that mission. While he was shooting the shit with Grant, all hell broke out for his unit.
His cell phone buzzed. Not now. He didn’t want to speak to anyone until he had time to regroup. Tossing the sheet aside, he sat up. A beer. That ought to take the edge off.
Before he could open the door to the fridge, his landline phone rang. Whoever it was could leave a message. He wasn’t talking to anyone tonight. Even if it was Marcia. He’d call her back in an hour or however long it took to regain control of himself.
The answering machine kicked in, and he waited for his sister’s voice.
“Wilson. Pick up the phone. Adam Montague here.”
How the fuck did Top have his phone number? He must have been the one calling on the cell, too.
Had Orlando mentioned to his former master sergeant that they had run into each other a couple of months ago on a Patriot Guard ride in southern Colorado? He had known it was a bad idea to go, but the man being buried had served with him in Kosovo. To lay low during his funeral would have been disrespectful, and he damn well wouldn’t let any asshole activist protester disrupt his buddy finally being laid to rest.
Another brave and hurting hero’s fucking suicide.
Other than the Patriot Guard Riders, Ryder had severed all ties to those who survived the past and had hoped Orlando would respect his request not to say anything to the others. He wanted to put all that behind him.
The nightmare from the mayhem on the rooftop in Fallujah told him he wasn’t doing a very good job of that, though. He reached for the phone.
“Yes, Top. Sorry. I was…in the head.”
“Glad I waited. How’re you doing?”
“Great. Got myself a nice place in the Jemez Mountains. Nice and quiet.”
Nobody bothers me, and I sure as hell don’t bother anyone else.
“Sounds good.” Top paused a moment. “Listen, Wilson, my sister is staying at our brother’s place in Albuquerque. I have no fucking clue what’s wrong, but when I called a little while ago, she said the police were there. Also said she’d call me back when they left, but I haven’t heard a thing. Patrick’s out of the country, and I’m worried about her.”
“Sorry to bother you this late, but would you mind running over to make sure she’s okay? It would mean a lot to me knowing someone I trust has taken a look around.”
Go into the city? All those people? Adrenalin kicked in, and Ryder’s heart began pounding.
A mission. His master sergeant hadn’t given him orders in nearly eight years.
Someone I trust.
The desire to live up to those words and help the man who had brought him and nearly every man home from their deployments outweighed Ryder’s penchant for drowning in his own shit.
“Sure, Top.” He reached for a pen and pad of paper. “What’s the address?” The neighborhood was more familiar than he liked. Ryder also jotted down her name—Megan Gallagher. Must be married since they didn’t have the same last names. Why wasn’t her husband looking in on her?
But Ryder would help where he could. She was Top’s sister. That’s all that mattered.
After also taking down a couple of phone numbers where he could reach Top, he said goodbye and tucked the paper inside his jeans pocket before returning to the bedroom to grab a long-sleeved flannel shirt and his leather jacket. It got colder than a witch’s tit when the sun went down here in the high desert. Riding a Harley without a windscreen didn’t help.
But he preferred to detach it when he rode alone. He couldn’t stand being cooped up in a car or truck either. Needed to be able to breathe—and have an unobstructed view of any potential threat. Usually, his treks were on mountain roads and small highways, limiting the danger.
Not like tonight. The lights of the Albuquerque valley spread out before him as he headed south on I-25. He couldn’t avoid the city this time.
Still, he wished he was alone back at Carlos’s house in the mountains. Being around people wore him down quicker than the road.
Only because you asked, Top.
A man didn’t turn his back on his Marine family ever—no matter how fucked up he was. He hadn’t been in a real city in nearly two years. If he needed anything he couldn’t acquire for himself, his friend Carlos usually took care of it. But Ryder prided himself on being self-sufficient. He might be totally useless as far as holding a job went, but he didn’t take handouts.
If he’d truly gone off the grid, Master Sergeant Montague never would have found him. But he kept a phone because of his sister Marcia in Santa Fe. Maybe he’d tracked him through phone records. But didn’t he say he’d just heard from his sister about some trouble? Had he already known Ryder’s number? No answers came as the lights of the valley grew brighter.
Fucking city. God, he hated being around that many people.
Just let me keep it together in front of Top’s sister.
The last thing he wanted was for his unit to find out how badly he was handling the aftermath of his years in service. He’d tried going to the VA, but they were too far away—in miles and philosophy—to be of much help.
Hell, why was he so screwed up? He’d come home. In one piece, even. Look at Orlando. He’d adjusted well to his amputation, from what Ryder could tell from their brief meeting during the Alamosa PGR procession. If he hadn’t seen the man’s foot blown off by that damned grenade with his own eyes, Ryder would never have guessed Orlando wore a prosthesis.
Why couldn’t Ryder put the past behind him like everyone else in his unit had done?
*****
If you preordered and live in the UK or elsewhere in Europe, Australia, Africa, New Zealand, and other locations “east” of the United States, please read this newsletter message about a mix-up in the file you received in case you need to know more about how to update your device to get the correct file. Kally apologizes for the mistake, but was only trying to get a better version to you when all hell broke loose. http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=c5caf1c20fc5da535929b2e1e&id=b6d5b97e6c
*****
Kally tells us about herself and her writing and appearance plans for 2015
I write emotional, realistic Romance novels with an emphasis on healing using sometimes unconventional methods, including BDSM (bondage, sado-masochism, kink, interrogation scenes from hell, and more). My alpha males are dominant (whether active in the BDSM lifestyle or former active-duty military or not) and attracted to strong women who can bring them to their knees. I’ve brought many readers to their knees, too—having them experience the stories right along with her characters in the Rescue Me Saga. I know that Happily Ever After takes maintenance, so my couples don’t solve all their problems and disappear at “the end” of their Romance, but will continue to work on real problems in their relationships in later books in the saga. That’s why it’s difficult to read the series out of order (except for NOBODY’S LOST).
I enjoy meeting readers and have traveled extensively to try to get to every state (someday!) to hold events as big as a KallypsoCon or as small as an intimate dinner for 3. However, because I want to give my readers more books to read, I’m scaling way back on appearances in 2015 so I can hunker down in the writing chair. (I write in a glider, exactly like the one I describe in Adam’s bedroom at the Masters at Arms Club.) Coming in 2015 are NOBODY’S DREAM (Rescue Me Saga #6–the long-awaited Luke and Cassie story) and a novella (or short novel–you know I don’t write short because NOBODY’S LOST started out to be a 35-40,000-word novella and it ended at 71,000 words. The couple in that novel will be Pamela (the NICE ex-girlfriend of Marc D’Alessio’s who you met in SOMEBODY’S ANGEL) and Master Roar (Kristoffer Larson–a relative of Gunnar Larson’s, who trained Damian and Grant as dominants). Then I’m not sure which direction I’ll go. Grant and Patrick were HUGE in NOBODY’S LOST, and I planned a spin-off three-book romantic suspense (with BDSM) for them. I may have to decide if the time is right to begin Patrick’s story. Let me know what you think after you read LOST!
But I’m also wanting to start the spin-off series about Angelina Giardano’s firefighter brothers with Tony (her brother) and Carmella (Marc’s sister) as the potential first couple. Sparks sure were flying between them in that scene in SOMEBODY’S ANGEL. Definitely something I want to explore!
As far as 2015 appearances, I’ll be attending RomCon in Denver, Colorado, in September. And the weekend before I will be conducting a Rescue Me Saga private sightseeing tour of the places I write about in Denver and areas near Breckinridge. That package will include lodging for three nights, bus transportation for the tour, and at least one special meal each day.
I’m also planning my second KallypsoCon to be held in the Boston, Mass., area in late October or early November. In March, I’ll be announcing the authors who will join ne AND will open up registration for the VERY limited number of reader spots. (We want to keep this intimate and relaxing, which is what everyone at the first event loved most. We only had 85 attendees, including 7 authors, but will probably have 8 or 9 authors and up to 110 readers at this one (since so many of those who were at the first one want to be there).
What else is there to know about me? Well, I’ve been writing full-time since May 2011, having quit my “day job” the month before. I live in rural Kentucky and have been married for more than 30 years to the man who provided my Happily Ever After. We have two adult children, one adorable grandson (Erik, who my followers on FB hear about often!), and a rescued dog.
Here are some of the places where you can learn more about me and my books online:
My web site: http://kallypsomasters.com/
Facebook Author Page:https://www.facebook.com/KallypsoMastersAuthorPage
My Facebook Profile https://www.facebook.com/kallypsomasters (I’m close to max friends, so I only send friend requests to those who message me saying they want to engage by commenting or posting on my timeline, BUT anyone can follow me and see almost everything I put up there. It’s 99.9% public.)
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