It’s here! “Herc’s Mercs 2: Line in the Sand” is now available from Torquere Press! Or you can buy it here from Amazon.com!

In order to keep his skill in the field up to date, Alec “Red” Davis, Hercules Security’s Chief of Operations takes a job protecting Jon Baldwin, an actor thrown into the spotlight by sudden fame. Although he’s attracted to Jon, who is modest about his success and genuinely appreciative of his fans, Alec knows he has to keep his distance. Even when Jon makes it obvious he returns Alec’s interest, there is a professional line Alec knows he must never cross – no matter how great the temptation.

While accompanying Jon on a vacation to Central America, the two are caught in a devastating flash flood that pushes Alec’s abilities to their limits. Determined to get Jon to safety, Alec has to battle both nature and his own feelings. But when Jon falls ill, Alec realizes that professional integrity won’t mean a thing if he loses the man he loves.

126 pages / 40000 words for $4.49

Spoilery discussion below. 

Since we’d already had a stalker in Herc 1 and since stalker/insane fan/jealous costar plots are pretty common in the genre, we wanted to do something different. We set it up so that it looked likely that Jon would be rattled by a rabid fan and have his trust shattered, but then we veered off and let Jon keep his trust and innocence.

Instead, we decided to create a man vs. nature conflict with Alec having to battle the jungle, the elements, and illness to keep Jon safe. We hope our readers enjoy the twist! Jon and Alec were a fun couple to write, and we got to throw in a nod to our love of conventions as well. 😀