LOVE, TUSSLES, AND TAKEDOWNS by Violet Duke

  From the author of the New York Times bestselling NICE GIRL series comes Book Two in the USA Today bestselling CACTUS CREEK series…

He's a better fighter A fighter to the core, Hudson Reyes has collected enough battle scars now to last several lifetimes. But after his combat injuries retire him from the life he wasn't ready to give up, Hudson finds himself spending the carbon copy days of his new career as a Hollywood fight scene and weapons specialist just doing what he knows best: surviving. Until he meets her. The one woman who makes him want to live again. With wounds as deep as his own, she's a scrappy little thing--an angel-faced paradox that comes as a package deal with an offbeat town of admirably protective, but downright nosy folks. And a wicked roundhouse kick that's become intimately familiar with his head. ...but she has all the weapons. An antique arms authenticator by day and a self-defense instructor by night, Liana Lin has made a living turning the unthinkable demons of her past into the passions that fuel, and fill, her life. So when the unjustly handsome man she's been unable to stop thinking about literally takes her to the mat with martial arts styles unlike anything she's ever seen--pinning her with a molten hot stare that melts her like a marshmallow trapped between a graham cracker and a chocolate square--Lia flips into no-holds-barred fight mode. Because if one man could find a way to disarm her carefully-built defenses, it'd be him. Now if only they could stop sparring long enough to find out...  
BOOK 1: A Little Combustible Chemistry [Prequel Novella -- Luke & Dani] BOOK 2: Love, Chocolate, and Beer [Luke & Dani] BOOK 3: Love, Tussles, and Takedowns [Hudson & Lia] -- June 2014 BOOK 4: Love, Exes, and Ohs [Isaac & Xoey] -- July 2014 BOOK 5: Love, Sidelines, and Endzones [Grady & Sienna] -- Sept 2014 BOOK 6: A Little Holiday Meddling [Holiday Novella -- Noah & Katelyn] -- Nov 2014    
“Used to be, I could handle a combat weapon with the kind of speed and precision that guys in my unit were gladly willing to trade their left nut for.” A hard edge darkened his expression for a brief moment before fading, softening when his gaze fell on her face again. “After the explosion, discovering that I wouldn’t ever have that level of fine motor control in my trigger hand again, or that I wouldn’t ever be able to fully process the feel of a weapon because of the nerve damage in my other hand…that just about destroyed me.” He slid his hand over her skin gently. “But this—ˮ She gasped, gripped the sheets to keep herself grounded mentally, emotionally. To keep her silly heart from acknowledging the fact that he was shattering her defenses with that one simple touch, owning her with the intense, single-minded focus his eyes held as they followed the path his fingers were tracing across her belly. Hungrily. Reverently. “I thought that was the hardest thing I’d have to get over because of my injuries. But this right here,” he whispered, leaning down to wreck even more havoc on her senses by shadowing his touch with his words, his evil, evil lips only just barely skimming her flesh. “Not being able to do all the things I want to do to you with the pace and precision I want to with this hand…” She stopped breathing when she felt his other palm smooth up the back of her thigh. “And worse, not being able feel you fully with this one…” “Hell, Lia. That’s killing me more than you can imagine.”

 
   
NEW YORK TIMES & USA TODAY bestselling author Violet Duke is a former professor of English Education who is ecstatic to now be on the other side of the page writing wickedly fun contemporary romance novels. Her books have been Top 10 bestsellers on Amazon, iTunes, and Barnes & Noble, and have been featured on IndieReader and GalleyCat as breakout hits. When she's not writing or feeding her book-a-day reading addiction, Violet enjoys tackling reno projects with her power tools, trying pretty much anything without reading the directions first, and cooking 'special edition' dishes that laugh in the face of recipes. She lives in Hawai'i with her two cute kids (daughter Violet & son Duke) and similarly adorable husband.