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.
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
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