PW-46 (ADULT): SOMETHING TO PROVE

MENTOR: Shelley Watters

MENTEE: Violet Henry

TITLE:  SOMETHING TO PROVE

CATEGORY/GENRE: Adult Contemporary Romance

WORD COUNT: 90,000

PITCH:

With a slave-making drug on the horizon and her best friend in the hands of its creator, BEA agent Penelope battles the Honduran jungle alongside Alpha Security Operator Rafael—and struggles not to fall in love with him in the process.

EXCERPT:

Penelope’s underwear had long ago stopped being dry, and not for any pleasurable reason involving a man and his skillful pair of callous-roughened hands. It was hotter than the bowels of hell, and as sad as it was to admit, the dense mugginess of the night air combined with the scent of the urine-tainted street was turning out to be the highlight of her day.

Her eyes snapped left, then right as her overactive imagination stretched darkened shadows into human-sized figures. They surrounded her, hid behind each dumpster only to disintegrate with the twinkle of a far-off light. And with each step away from her rusted-out Jeep, that irrational paranoia sent her heart into a thunderous gallop.

She’d flown thousands of miles from her safe Pennsylvania suburb to the murder capital of Central America, and nothing would deter her from her goal. Not a sexual proposition from a ninety-year-old pimp, nor the threat of detention in a Honduran jail. Hell, she’d just spent an hour in a bar where she may have contracted an acute case of Hepatitis A. But for Rachel, she’d do anything, risk anything. To protect her family, Penelope would walk through fire and worse.

The subtle shift of a shadow shattered that fragile bravery like a baseball bat to fine china. Arms the size of cannons came from behind, shackling her ribs in a grip that squeezed the air from her lungs. She squirmed. Kicked. But the only thing that resulted in her inept attempt to break free was the low rumble of her captor’s humored chuckle.