Flight Risk (Antiques in Flight 1)

Flight Risk is the first in the Antiques in Flight series from Samhain Publishing.

Series: Antiques in Flight, Book 1.

(The second book in the series is Flight Delay)

(Samhain) (Amazon) (BN) (Goodreads) (Kobo) (ibooks)

Blurb: Flying too close to love could get her heart burned.

After losing his mother to cancer, Trevor Steele has taken a leave of absence from the FBI to get his little sister through her last months of high school. But once she’s settled in college next fall, he’s leaving Pilot’s Point and heading back to Seattle.

Now if only he could keep his mind off childhood friend Callie Baker. Especially since she’s asked him for a big chunk of his spare time to help save her family business.

Once the town bad girl, Callie has had to get her act together to keep Antiques in Flight airport from falling apart. Swallowing her pride to ask for Trevor’s help is the hardest thing she’s ever done—next to trying to forget the sizzling kiss they shared two years ago.

Working side by side leads to a complicated dance of almost-moments, until their repressed urges finally break free. But just as Trevor begins to think staying for good might be the right path, Callie closes herself off, afraid to believe in promises…even Trevor’s.

Warning: A woman who’d rather face an airplane engine than falling for her best friend, a man who’d rather face a gun to his head than going home, and a love that will test what they both want.

Praise for Flight Risk:

“Contemporary fans are going to find a lot to like in this adorable story of the town’s bad girl and nice guy finally taking the friends to lovers route. This is two favorite plot devices in one, and delivers on both. Callie is a sympathetic snark queen and Trevor is a man torn between following his heart and keeping his promise to himself.” 4 stars from RT Magazine

“This book has everything a good story needs: well-developed, likable characters and a solid plot and subplots that keep the story moving forward. Helm (Seven Night Stand) has done a fine job of weaving the backstories of these protagonists, with all their flaws and good points, with the situation at hand. This reviewer is eager to read more by Helm. Recommended for most romance fans.” –Library Journal Xpress Reviews

“Full of emotion, a little heat and some great banter, this made for a great read.” Long and Short Reviews

Flight Risk might be for you if you like…

Friends to lovers trope
Heroines in unconventional jobs (who are also a little/lot prickly)
Heroes in law enforcement
Unique settings (antique airfield!)

Favorite Excerpts:

Trevor leaned against the fence a few feet away from her. “Why? You enjoying the view?” He waggled his eyebrows.

Callie rolled her eyes, hoping she could rationalize the pink on her cheeks being from the heat of the day. “Please. You’d need a few more muscles and some tattoos to affect me.” He really didn’t, but she would never admit that to him. Let him think she had a thing for muscle-bound bad boys instead of lean, rangy good guys.

“Who says I don’t have any tattoos?”

Callie narrowed her eyes, studied him. Her pulse jumped. “You don’t have any tattoos.”

“Just because I don’t have any above the waist doesn’t mean I don’t have one.” He cocked his head, grinned.

Something strange and unnerving clutched in Callie’s gut, but she ignored it and matched his grin with a skeptical smile. “All right. Prove it.”

Trevor began to unbuckle his belt and Callie thought her heart was going to jump right out of her chest, but then he stopped. “Okay, you got me. No tattoo.”

Callie realized her mouth was hanging open. She quickly snapped it shut.

“What about you?”

“What about me?” she asked, really wishing she had a drink of water at this point. Her throat was so dry she couldn’t swallow and she was having trouble settling on a coherent thought. Damn heat.

“Any tattoos?”

“You’ll never know.” She got a weird and uncomfortable feeling that Trevor was flirting with her. Which was crazy. The heat was messing with her brain. Obviously.

***

“What do you think?”

She looked at Trevor, really looked at him. The way his black hair was starting to grow out, enough that if she ran her fingers through it, it wouldn’t feel scratchy. His eyes were focused on the mess of the basement, and they were so blue it didn’t seem natural.

Broad shoulders tapered down, and his white T-shirt clung to his flat stomach, hard muscle under smooth skin. From all the work outside at AIF, his previously fair skin was now tanned.

What was so wrong with wanting him? With, for once, taking what she wanted? New leaf? Fuck it. She wanted something more than this new leaf of feeling sad and doing the right damn thing, she wanted to feel something besides all the bad.

Changing? Yes, she was changing. Healing from years of loss and pain and not knowing what to do with it all. Why not do something good, experience something amazing in the midst of all this new, hard stuff?

“I think you should kiss me.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out other than something akin to a squeak. It made her smile because it made her feel powerful. And it made her feel good.

She didn’t give him a chance to act or not act beyond that little squeak. She fisted her hands in his shirt and pulled his mouth to hers.

Extras:

(Pinterest Board)

(My Blog Posts About Flight Risk)

Soundtrack to Writing:

If You Don’t Wanna Love Me, James Morrison

Tonight I Wanna Cry, Keith Urban

Let it Be Me, Ray LaMontagne

Run to You, Lady Antebellum

The Long Day is Over, Norah Jones

Once in a Lifetime, Keith Urban

You and I, Michael Buble