Sometimes love is the only thing worth living for…

Featured book this week is Northern Heat by Helene Young

Let’s take a closer look - and there’s an excerpt too!

In remote northern Australia, Conor Stein is living under an assumed name and rebuilding his shattered life. Working at Cooktown’s youth centre has given him the chance to make a difference again, and a chance to flirt with Kristy Dark. When he finds himself dragged into a murder investigation, with more lives at risk, he fights to the death to protect those he loves.

After tragedy tore her family apart, Dr Kristy Dark fled home to the steamy north with her feisty teenage daughter, Abby. She hoped being part of the small community would help them both heal. When late one sultry night Conor staggers into the emergency department supporting a local fisherman with a gunshot wound, she has no inkling her world is about to be turned on its head.

As a cyclone tears through Cooktown, cutting them off from the world, the real killer moves to silence any witnesses. With their lives on the line, Kristy will have to summon her courage and place her trust in Conor, or they’ll both lose someone they love.

Excerpt from Northern Heat by Helene Young

Helene says this short excerpt is from a chapter mid-way through the story. Conor has convinced Kristy to go sailing with him aboard his home, Veritas. She’s a country girl who’s never sailed before whereas he’s an experienced sailor who’s having a hard time keeping his hand off Kristy.

Kristy steadied herself against the movement of the deck. Was she going to feel seasick? They’d motored out past the headland and into the endless blue horizon. It was exhilarating and daunting all at once.

‘Want to have a go at steering? I’d like to hoist the sails. Far more peaceful.’

She turned to him, her heart beating faster. ‘Steering? Me?’

‘Sure, it’s easy. Stand here.’ He moved aside to let her take the wheel, the metal smooth and warm still from his touch.

‘Right.’ Her knuckles went white as the wheel moved against her.

‘Relax. You don’t need to do anything but keep us heading in the same direction. See the numbers there?’ He pointed at the chart plotter. ‘Keep us heading one-five-zero. You won’t need to turn the wheel much at all.’

‘Okay.’ She could do this. He made his way forward, releasing catches and fiddling with the sail.

‘Hold it steady and here we go.’ The electric winch chattered and overhead the snowy white sail fluttered towards the top of the mast. ‘Perfect,’ he said. ‘Time for silence.’ He turned the motor off and the only sounds were the lap of water against the hull and the creak of the sail.

She turned with a look of awe as the boat’s speed increased. ‘Magical.’

‘It is.’ And from the way his gaze lingered on her face she didn’t think that he was necessarily talking about the sailing. ‘Let’s head in the right direction now.’

He moved behind her, not touching but so close she could feel his breath on her neck and the heat from his lean body. ‘Hands light, feel the pressure on the rudder, now left hand down and turn us to port.’

‘Port left,’ she muttered, concentrating on the bow of the boat as it gently moved left. The wind on her face with the taste of salt on her lips made her feel alive. The smells, the sensations, were so different to being out on Ruby Downs and yet it was thrilling, like a hard ride down a mountainside or the furious chase of a recalcitrant steer as it threaded through the scrub desperate to escape capture.

No dust or flies here and the pace was different, but still her heart beat faster, her lips were dry and she felt the surge of adrenaline as Conor hauled on the jib sheet, muscles flexing. The sail filled and the boat heeled over, her hands tightening on the wheel, partly for balance and partly because she felt as though her world had tilted.

With the blistering north sun beating down, the breeze on her face and azure water dancing around the boat, it seemed that Conor was a magician and he’d conjured it up for her alone, laid the gift of laughter at her feet and asked nothing more than that she accept it.

And who could refuse?

He stood tall beside her, hair fluttering behind him, dark eyes bright. He looked down at her and his teeth were white against the deep tan of his skin.

‘So you still think it’s better on a horse?’

She grinned, defenceless against his charm. ‘Different, but this is . . .’ She searched for the word. ‘Sublime.’

‘A day like today is a gift from the gods. It doesn’t get any better than this.’

Northern Heat is available in eBook and paperback from all good retailers.
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Find out more about Helene and all her books on MEET HELENE YOUNG

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