Eye of the Eagle
is the third book in my Hotel LaBelle Series. Many would say it should have
been easier than the first two, but in fact, it was my most challenging to
write. The reason is that out of all my books, the heroine in this story is my
most personal. Phoebe Wagner is based on my grandmother, Bessie T. Engelman,
who gave me unconditional love when I needed it most. At the age of three years
old, my mother put me on a plane in Washington, D.C., and sent me to
Connecticut to live with my deaf grandmother, my aunt, uncle, cousin, two
Chihuahuas, and a parakeet. At night, I would cry because I missed my family.
As I sobbed, my grandmother would take me in her arms and hug me. I’d fall
asleep wondering if I’d ever see my family again, not knowing that my parents
were divorcing.
A year after being shipped north, I was reunited with my family. Another year
later, we moved out of my aunt’s basement and into government subsidized
housing. The years passed, marred by poverty and abuse at my mother’s hands. During
the first semester of my freshman year, my grandmother became ill and died at
home at the age of eighty-nine. Claiming that she didn’t want to “disrupt” my
studies, my mother withheld the knowledge until I came home months later. I was
devastated. I never had the chance to say good-bye to the woman who loved me
unconditionally.
When I hit my fifth decade, I felt compelled to research
my family tree, beginning with my beloved grandmother. My only clues were
embedded in childhood memories of kitchen table conversations between my mother
and aunt. The family legend, told and re-told, with hand-signed consultations
for verification, was that my grandmother was born hearing and healthy to a
wealthy family. My research gave me much more than I expected: it gave me a
love story and insight into this feisty woman.
Born in 1881, my grandmother contracted spinal meningitis
at sixteen months of age and lost her hearing. She was a resident at what is
now the Kentucky School for the Deaf in Danville, Kentucky from age seven to twenty-one.
An educated and strong woman, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked
for a Congressman addressing envelopes with her beautiful penmanship. She met
my grandfather, Carl Rhodes, on a blind date. A wild man on a motorcycle, Carl
was born deaf, became a ward of the Department of the Interior, and attended
Kendall School housed on the campus of Gallaudet University in Washington,
D.C. Defying her wealthy Kentucky
family, my grandmother married her “bad boy” and raised six hearing children in
Washington, D.C. where my grandfather worked for the U.S. Botanical Gardens and
the White House.
Every day I thank my grandmother for defying her parents,
for marrying my grandfather, and for showing me the most important of all
abilities: persistence, hope, compassion, and love. I know she is my guardian
angel, always looking out for me and my family. Eye of the Eagle is my love story for my grandmother, inspired by
her love for me.
One soars like an eagle. One strikes like a thunderbird. But for both
hearts, revenge can be deadly when it's nourished.
Anomaly Defense Director and
shapeshifter Bert Blackfeather doesn't need a boss with no experience. So what
if she's beautiful or gives him a jolt when she shakes his hand? He never plans
to get seriously involved with another woman—not in this lifetime.
Phoebe Wagner, an empath with
psychometric abilities and an advocate for the deaf, gets more than she
bargained for with Bert. One touch and she relives his IED injuries. So what if
he's handsome and hot? She doesn't need to add his secrets to her own. Phoebe's
are bad enough.
When his niece goes missing from
Hotel LaBelle, Bert goes to Montana to help—and Phoebe insists on going with
him. Can these two hard-headed people share their darkest secrets in order to
work together? It may be the only way to save an endangered child—and their own
hearts when Bert's past rears its ugly head.
Excerpt:
His heart
stuttered and heat flushed his face. “You sure you’re ready to see me—in the
daylight?”
She frowned
and pursed her lips. “Do I look like someone afraid of taking on a challenge?”
“No. You
look like a kick ass heroine named Thunder Heart, and I would be honored and
privileged to share your bed.”
“You
promised me flying lessons.”
“And you
shall have them. Now, where did we leave off?”
She
stood, placed her hands on the sides of his chair and leaned in for a long
passionate kiss. He closed his eyes and gave her a preview, taking her with him
in his memories, soaring over the hotel, and then swirling and swooping down to
the river to grab a fat flopping trout in his talons.
She
pulled back, breaking the connection, blue eyes wide, her full red lips agape.
“Amazing. I want more.”
“Advanced
flying lessons require both of us to be naked—and in bed, as close as two
people can get.”
Phoebe
stood back. “What are you waiting for? Let’s get going.”
He
chuckled. “Well, you are my boss. I don’t want anyone to say you coerced me or
I forced you. Do we need to put this in writing?” She tilted her head and gave
him a puzzled look. “A legal document perhaps? I, Phoebe Wagner, hereby enter
into consensual sex freely and without coercion with one Bert Blackfeather…”
She
stomped her foot. “Give me your phone.” He handed her his cell.
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/O9uml6F9tw8
BUYLINKS:
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HLSGYW6
Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eye-of-the-eagle-sharon-buchbinder/1129689525?ean=2940161597996
iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/eye-of-the-eagle/id1436346614?mt=11
KOBO https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/eye-of-the-eagle-3
