Happy Monday, everyone. I’d like you to meet two of my favorite guys, from Siobhan Muir’s Heroes of Beta Squad series. Guys, would you introduce yourselves?
“Chief Warrant Officer Todd “Magic” Hunter reporting for duty, ma’am. Siobhan said you’d be a stickler for proper rank.” The blond man winks.
“Lieutenant Jim “Retro” Waters.” He’s broad, dark haired, and intense.
I’m glad you two stopped by. I really enjoyed your story. If don’t mind, I have some questions for you. I’d like to get to know you better, and I’m sure my readers would, too. Let’s start with something simple. I noticed you both introduced yourselves with your nicknames. How did you get them?
CWO Hunter: “Well, see, I got the nickname “Magic” ’cause everyone said I could make miracles happen when healin’ folks in the field. I can’t say as that’s true, ma’am, but I thank God everyday for lending a hand when Ghost got shot.”
Lt. Waters: “My nickname comes from my taste in music. They called me old school, “Retro” because I liked listening to the classics. You know, Def Leppard, Dire Straits, Paul Simon, Iron Maiden, Icehouse.”
Magic snorts. Retro growls. “Shut up, Magic. Electric Blue is a great song.”
“I know, Retro. Fits you to a T.”
*cough* I kind of like Electric Blue, too, Retro. Just sayin’. And Magic, I’ve heard Chris talk about you being magic in other ways. *waggles brows* That said, I’m sure the whole team was glad you were there when Chris was injured. My other half was Army. You two are Navy SEALs. Why did you join the military and what made you decide to be SEALs? And did either of you ever consider “ringing out”?
Magic speaks up first. “Aw, hell, ma’am. Everyone considers ringin’ out. BUD/S training sucks no matter which way you look at it. A third of the guys get rolled medically, which means they have to come back and do it again once they healed. I got lucky. I made it through the first time.” Hunter glanced at Waters. “And I gotta credit Ghost with lightin’ the fire under my ass—oops, sorry, ma’am—under my butt to finish. It was kinda an ego thing. Women aren’t supposed to make it through BUD/S. If she could, sure as hell I could.” Hunter grins. “But I joined the Navy because I lived in dusty, dry El Paso, Texas, and the ocean just seemed like home the first time I saw it as a kid. As for the SEALs, well, SEALs make a helluva difference in many situations and bein’ medically inclined, I figured I’d do best if I was helpin’ them help others. Best way to do that is patch them up and watch their backs.”
Silver waves off the apology. “No worries, Magic. I’ve said worse.” She winks. “What about you, Retro?”
Waters’ face loses most of its expression. “I joined the Navy because my father was a frogman in Vietnam. Like father like son, I guess.” He shrugs uncomfortably. “It kept him off my back. But I took the next step to be a SEAL because I wanted to be the best at what we did. And make no mistake, ma’am, we are the best.” His smile is all satisfaction. “Did I consider ringing out? Yeah. But watching other guys give up and knowing the instructors tried to make the training the worst it would ever be made me push through. Some guys just gave up out of nowhere. Like they weren’t too cold or too tired or too hungry. They were just done for no apparent reason. I still don’t get that. Guess they just didn’t want it bad enough. There’s a SEAL adage “the only easy day was yesterday.” And the way I figured it, if I could get through BUD/S, which is a crash-course in awful, I could get through the ops coming up because I’d seen the worst out there, and that was ‘easy’.”
Dedication. That says a lot about a man. And in this case, two men. You two are best friends, right? Describe the other’s personality with five adjectives that would make your 5th grade English teacher proud.
Magic narrows his eyes and scans Retro. “Let’s see…Stubborn. Strong. Dogged. Determined. Inventive.
Interesting. Those are excellent attributes for an officer.
Retro snorts and shakes his head, bemused. “I’d say Hunter is lucky. Balanced. Quick. Handsome—right up there with Bam-Bam. And good at compartmentalizing.
Speaking of balanced, I see why you two are friends. You even each other out. So, if you have leave and could go anywhere for a vacation, where would you go and who would you go with?
Retro raises an eyebrow. “Vacation, ma’am? We’re SEALs. Vacations are for folks who get time off. Besides, we travel a lot. If I get much leave, I prefer a ‘staycation’ where I don’t have to plan anything. And there’s no question who I’d go with. My wife, Christiana, and Magic.”
“You gotta remember to think outside the box, Retro.” Magic thumps Waters’ arm to take the sting out of his words. “If we ever got enough leave, I’d take Chris to Machu Pichu. She’s always wanted to go there and the only time we’ve seen Peru, it was dark and full of unfriendly fire. It’d be nice to see the mountains and ruins in the daylight. Plus, we’d definitely try for the Mile-High club without leaving the ground.” He winks.
Retro laughs and bumps fists with Magic. “Hooyah!”
What’s your favorite food? And would you rather cook or go out to eat?
“My favorite food has got to be sea bass with butter and garlic. Sweet mercy, that’s the best ever. I learned how to make it from a little Senorita in Chile one time.” Magic winks. “Don’t tell Chris. And I’ll eat anywhere. At home or out, doesn’t matter to me.”
“I’d rather cook at home. Better chance of being with Chris. And feeding her.” Retro flashes a cheeky grin. “My favorite food is a toss-up between good old fashioned fish’n chips, and Chicago style pizza with everything on it including the kitchen sink. Either makes me think of home.”
Yeah, I bet meals are interesting around your place. *laugh* You guys are in a high-stress career. How do you relax?
“Make love to Chris.” Both men speak together and bump fists again. “Hooyah!”
“Actually, I like to carve wood puzzles. You know, like links out of one piece of wood?” Retro shrugs with one shoulder. “I didn’t know anything about it until I saw this program on the Discovery channel while on leave with Chris. It’s really amazing to get something really complex out of one piece of wood. I didn’t have space before, but we made a woodshop in the garage and Chris collects driftwood for me when I’m on op.”
“I’m a big fan of swimmin’, so I’ll work out some of my frustration in the pool, then hang out with my wife and my best buddy. Playin’ in a pool is the best for me. Speakin’ of which, when are the builders comin’, Retro?” Magic elbows the broader SEAL.
“After the new year. Chris wants a Japanese garden with vine maples and lanterns and granite from the Sierras or something.” Retro shrugs again and turns back to Silver. “That’s what she does to relax. Gardening.”
When you first saw Chris, your heroine, what was your first thought? And what was your second?
Magic laughs. “‘Holy shit, how does she think she’ll make it through BUD/S?’ And then, ‘Holy shit, how will I keep up with her?’”
Retro shakes his head. “I wondered why a pretty woman like her would want to be a SEAL, but it became pretty obvious she wanted to be the best. My second thought was what a damn good leader she was to the men flagging in the class. She pushed them hard and made them work harder without belittling them. It was damn impressive.”
You two share Chris. What is the one piece of advice you’d give to anyone considering a committed ménage relationship?
“Communication and honesty. No one’s gonna read anyone else’s mind. If there’s bad feelin’s developin’, they gotta be addressed immediately and with candor. You have to trust your partners to be willin’ to tackle anything together.” Magic tips his head and shoots a glance at Waters. “It’s like a SEAL team, really. You gotta have faith in your partners and yourself. You’re all in this together, win or lose.”
“You also gotta be willing to engage. There is no waiting for someone to notice you’re unhappy or jealous or freaked out.” Retro’s voice is steady, his expression distant. “Everyone is different and has different concerns. You gotta trust they’ll be willing to tell you when something’s not working and also willing to fix it. You, too. If you want it bad enough, like being a SEAL, you’ll work it out. Trust and respect for everyone involved, they’re the keys to this kind of commitment.”
Thanks, Magic and Retro. It’s been fun getting to know you better. Now we’re ready to read about you in Siobhan Muir’s book!
“Thank you, ma’am.” Magic smiles.
“Thanks, ma’am.” Retro nods.
About the book:
A SEAL is strongest with her Team…
Ensign Christiana “Ghost” Brickman is the only female SEAL to survive BUD/S training, a real Navy Jane. But when an ambush ends her career as an active SEAL, she’s free to pursue other interests. Like her two best friends Lt. Jim “Retro” Waters and Chief Warrant Officer Todd “Magic” Hunter. She’s wanted them for over a year, but never dared to approach them while in the squad.
Retro has fought his dark desires since high school, certain the need to share a woman unnatural. Magic had never considered sharing before Ghost mentions it, but it solves his dilemma of choosing between his best friend and his woman. But Retro balks at Ghost’s offer to share and retreats from both when she marries Magic.
Everyone feels Retro’s loss, but he ignores the ache of their broken connection in favor of living ‘normal.’ When Ghost and the other wives of Beta Squad are kidnapped, Retro must reevaluate how much both Ghost and Magic mean to him. And he must decide how far he’s willing to go to save the woman he loves, before she becomes the Navy’s ghost.
Praise for THE NAVY’S GHOST:
“A kick-ass heroine and the two SEALs who love her battle bad guys and their own emotions in this action-packed romance.” ~ Cat Johnson, NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Author
About Siobhan Muir:
BIO: Siobhan Muir lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, with her husband, two daughters, and a vegetarian cat she swears is a shape-shifter, though he’s never shifted when she can see him. When not writing, she can be found looking down a microscope at fossil fox teeth, pursuing her other love, paleontology. An avid reader of science fiction/fantasy, her husband gave her a paranormal romance for Christmas one year, and she was hooked for good.
In previous lives, Siobhan has been an actor at the Colorado Renaissance Festival, a field geologist in the Aleutian Islands, and restored inter-planetary imagery at the USGS. She’s hiked to the top of Mount St. Helens and to the bottom of Meteor Crater.
Siobhan writes kick-ass adventure with hot sex for men and women to enjoy. She believes in happily ever after, redemption, and communication, all of which you will find in her paranormal romance stories.
Siobhan’s recent release, The Navy’s Ghost, is the first book in the Bad Boys of Beta Squad series. She has published A Hell Hound’s Fire (a free read) and The Beltane Witch in the Cloudburst Colorado series. Siobhan has also published Not a Dragon’s Standard Virgin and Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack through Siren Publishing, and Her Devoted Vampire through Evernight Publishing.
For more info visit her WEBSITE
You can also find Siobhan Muir at her BLOG | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOODREADS | GOOGLE + | PINTEREST
BUY THE NAVY’S GHOST from SMASHWORDS | ALL ROMANCE eBOOKS | AMAZON | Barnes & Noble and Kobo copies coming soon.
Readers, do you have any questions for Magic and/or Retro? And please check under the cut for the excerpt. It’s “hidden” because whoa buddy! We are talking major heat and definitely Not Safe For Work (NSFW)! [Edit: For some reason, the “cut” html doesn’t seem to be working–at least for me. Keep scrolling at your own risk. 😉 (Unless the darn thing is working on your computer–in which case see me *headdesking* Yes. It’s Monday. All day.]
Excerpt:
Click for sexy bits
The time between Christmas and New Year’s always feels a bit Twilight Zone-ish to me. The old year is coming to a close and the new year is just hanging out there on the horizon, not quite in sight yet but definitely not out of mind.
Silver James 