It’s time to meet the Captain…
Pre-Order Today
Release Date: April 15th
Amazon Pre-Order: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MTSK4BV?ref_=
Add to TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43241846-hook
Are you ready for Neverland’s next hero?
James “Captain” Hook
He’s tortured, broody, a complete badass, and of course totally SEXY (see drool-worthy picture below of character inspiration Mariano Divaio). He’s the captain of the criminal crew, the Pirates. He and Peter have a complex relationship. Peter considers Hook part of his “family” since they all grew up together at the School for Lost Boys of Neverland, but Hook prefers to hold himself apart.
Below is an excerpt from a scene in Pan that introduces Hook to us as an adult.
Unfortunately, he’s not having the best night, but Peter is determined not to let him make it worse.
An Excerpt from Pan: Meet Hook
PETER
I fuse our mouths together again, our tongues tangling and bodies pressing in all the right places, when I hear three sharp knocks on my door.
“Go away!”
“Peter, you need to come outside, now.”
Through labored breaths, Wendy asks, “Is that Tink?”
I nod. “Get someone else to handle it, Tink. I’m a little busy right now.”
She snorts so loud I can hear it through the door. “Yeah, I just bet you are. But the cops are here arresting Starkey, and Hook is going apeshit. You’re the only one he’ll listen to, Peter.”
I grit my teeth. “Fuuuu—ugh.”
Wendy giggles. “Just say it.”
Scowling at her, I say, “Don’t tempt me, woman. I have to go down there, but you can stay up here if you want.” I reluctantly push myself up from the bed and pull on a T-shirt.
“No, I’ll go with you.” My cock screams at the unfairness as I watch her get up and set herself to rights again. Smoothing her hair back into place, she says, “I think maybe this is a good thing. We probably shouldn’t jump into…um, whatever…right away. You know?”
I do know, but I don’t agree. I think we should absolutely jump into anything and everything. But telling her that isn’t going to do much but scare her away, and the only place I want Wendy Darling is here.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I choke out with a smile, then open my bedroom door to a seething sprite on the other side.
Wendy offers a warm smile. “Hi Tin—”
“Took you long enough, jackass,” she tosses out at me before spinning on her heel and jogging down the steps.
“Tink, watch your lang—”
“Bite me, Pan!”
I scowl, not liking how rude Tink’s being to Wendy, but then again, I suppose that’s nothing new. Wendy, however, is laughing behind her hand, her blues eyes twinkling with amusement. “You’ve been upgraded from ‘silly’ to ‘jack’, I see.”
“Still an ass, though,” I say wryly. “Come on, let’s go wrangle some Pirates.”
“Sounds like an adventure.”
It does sound like one, but when we make it out of the house, reality isn’t quite as charming. Three squad cars are parked, their cherries spinning and lighting up the whole front half of the property. My room faces the back of the house, or I would’ve seen them as soon as they pulled up. The rest of the scene is one big shit show.
Two cops are holding Starkey down on the front of a cruiser as he struggles in his cuffs. Silas and Nick are doing their best to hold back Hook, who’s shouting obscenities at the cops, barricading him from getting to his friend and threatening to throw cuffs on him too.
“Stay on the porch,” I tell Wendy, not wanting her to get in harm’s way.
I give her a quick kiss and head down the steps. Before I even reach him, Hook wrests himself from the boys’ grip. With a beastly growl, he lunges forward and cold-cocks one of the officers right in the face, blowing his nose wide open. The cop doubles over, screaming in pain as blood gushes through his fingers.
I wrap my arms around Hook’s upper body and drag him to the bottom of the porch where I can pin him against the wooden railing. “Are you fucking insane? You want them to haul your ass away for assaulting a LEO?”
“Yeah, I do. They’re arresting him on bullshit charges. If they’re taking people in for no goddamn reason, they might as well take me, too, but they won’t.”
Hook’s eyes are wild as he pushes against the forearm I have across his chest. If his face is any indication, someone had already gotten a couple of hits in before the boys tried to restrain him. Looking over my shoulder, I notice one of the other cops favoring his right hand with swollen knuckles like he’d just used someone’s face as a punching bag.
And what Hook said doesn’t make sense, now that I think about it. Why isn’t he getting arrested? I just watched him assault a police officer to the point he’ll probably have to have his nose reset, and none of them are making a move to cuff his ass. It doesn’t make sense.
I look back at Hook, and suddenly I can see what others probably can’t. James is worried. Like, really fucking worried. For Starkey? But why? I’m pretty sure every other guy on Hook’s crew has done time, including Hook, and he’s never acted like this.
“What’s really going on here, man?” There’s a war going on behind those arctic blue eyes as he debates how much to tell me, or whether to tell me anything at all. And just when I think he might actually reach out for once in his miserable life, I see the iron gates slam shut.
“Starkey’s never been on the inside before.”
“Why so interested in Starkey’s well-being? I mean, other than the fact that he’s been one of your loyal lapdogs from the time we were kids. Smee did time. I don’t remember you getting all bent out of shape then.”
“Starkey’s too damn soft,” he says gruffly. “He’ll get eaten alive unless I’m there to protect him.”
“What’re they charging him with?”
“I don’t know, because they won’t tell me!” Hook’s voice goes from normal to shouting so loud the veins in his neck pop out, and he’s pushing on me to get free again.
One of the cops behind me calls out, “We told the kid and that’s all that matters.”
“Bullshit! Only thing you told me was my rights.”
Chancing a look over my shoulder, I see the two officers on Starkey yank him up from the hood and drag him to the back door.
“Captain!” he screams. “I didn’t do nothin’, I swear. I kept my nose clean like you said. You gotta believe me. I didn’t do nothin’!”
“I know. I’m gonna get you outta there. Keep your head down and don’t ask for trouble, you hear me?”
There’s a helplessness in Hook’s eyes and a sliver of fear shaking his voice that he’s trying desperately to mask with his signature gruffness. But I see his truth, and I’m more than shocked. I’m floored.
He claims Starkey has no more of a place in his life than any other member of his crew.
But he’s fucking lying.
He cares about that kid. He might even love him, in his own way. And that tells me everything I need to know about this situation. For now, anyway. Hook might not want to admit it, but on some level, buried way deep down, he’s my friend. He’s a Lost Boy. Family.
So I’m going to do everything I can to help him. Even if all it means is helping him cope with Starkey doing time until he gets out. Because let’s face it, it’s not like I have any connections with the law, so there’s probably not a whole helluva lot I can do.
Hook’s shoulders sag with defeat as the cops drive off with their alleged criminal, and I can finally release my hold on him. “I’m sorry, Hook, but you getting arrested with him wouldn’t have helped him any.”
Already his eye is starting to swell and the dried blood trailing from his lip into his beard cracks with his humorless laugh. “You’re so fucking naive, Pan. It’s a good thing you never left Neverland. The real world would swallow you up and spit you back out.”
I have no idea what he means by that, but he doesn’t give me a chance to think about it before he stalks off toward his motorcycle, the rest of his crew falling into line behind him.
“You’re welcome, by the way!”
His only response is flipping me off, which I’ve come to think of as Hook’s version of a high-five, so I return the lewd gesture, even if he doesn’t see it.
“Are you okay?” Wendy comes up beside me and rests a hand on my arm. “That was really intense. I can’t believe they didn’t arrest him for assault.”
“Yeah,” I say, the gears in my brain turning as I slip an arm around her waist. “Neither can I.”
💚✨ NOW AVAILABLE!✨💚
Have You Met Adult Peter Pan & the Lost Boys?!?!
If you haven’t, you NEED to One-click Today!!
I have it on good authority that Gina started writing HOOK’s book, which means you’ll want to meet the whole Neverland crew in PAN to prepare for HOOK!!
Get it on Amazon or read for FREE in KU:
bit.ly/PanKindle
Trade paperback: bit.ly/PanPaperback
Add to Goodreads: bit.ly/GoodreadsPan
About Gina Maxwell
Gina L. Maxwell is a full-time writer, wife, and mother living in the upper Midwest, despite her scathing hatred of snow and cold weather. An avid romance novel addict, she began writing as an alternate way of enjoying the romance stories she loves to read. Her debut novel, Seducing Cinderella, hit both the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists in less than four weeks, and she’s been living her newfound dream ever since.
When she’s not reading or writing steamy romance novels, she spends her time losing at Scrabble (and every other game) to her high school sweetheart, doing her best to hang out with their teenagers before they fly the coop, and dreaming about her move to sunny Florida once they do.
Connect with Gina
Author Website: www.ginalmaxwell.com
Author Twitter: @Gina_L_Maxwell
Author Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ginalmaxwell
Author Street Team/Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/themaxwellmob
Author Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ginalmaxwell
Author Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/ginalmaxwell
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6446604.Gina_L_Maxwell
Newsletter: http://bit.ly/GLMnewsletter
I saw her first.
Brooke Cumberland & Lyra Parish are a duo of romance authors who teamed up to write under the USA Today Bestselling pseudonym, Kennedy Fox. They share a love of You’ve Got Mail and The Holiday. When they aren’t bonding over romantic comedies, they like to brainstorm new book ideas. One day, they decided to collaborate and have some fun creating new characters that’ll make your lady bits tingle and your heart melt. If you enjoy romance stories with sexy, tattooed alpha males and smart, independent women, then a Kennedy Fox book is for you!
He’s a billionaire single dad who needs help.
Tia Louise is the USA Today best-selling, award-winning author of When We Touch, the “Bright Lights,” “One to Hold,” and “Dirty Players” series, and co-author of the #4 Amazon bestseller The Last Guy.
Fairest Of All Book Reviews 