Reader's Edyn: Blitz: Inherent Fate (Blood Secrets #3) by Alicia Anthony + GIVEAWAY

**Inherent Fate by Alicia Anthony**

Good Morning, Everyone! So thrilled to see you all today! Today we have another new author to share with you all. Well, new to me, at least. I just love discovering new authors and their work! Please allow me to feature on the blog Alicia Anthony and her latest release, INHERENT FATE … Plus, a GIVEAWAY!

**INHERENT FATE**

**BIO**

Alicia Anthony’s first novels were illegible scribbles on the back of her truck driver father’s logbook trip tickets. Having graduated from scribbles to laptop, she now pens novels of psychological suspense in the quiet of the wee morning hours. A full-time elementary school Literacy Specialist, Alicia hopes to pass on her passion for books and writing to the students she teaches.

A two time Golden Heart® finalist and Silver Quill Award winner, Alicia finds her inspiration in exploring the dark, dusty corners of the human experience. Alicia is a graduate of Spalding University’s School of Creative & Professional Writing (MFA), Ashland University (M.Ed.) and THE Ohio State University (BA). Go Bucks! She lives in rural south-central Ohio with her amazingly patient and supportive husband, incredibly understanding teenage daughter, two dogs, three horses, a plethora of both visiting and resident barn cats, and some feral raccoons who have worn out their welcome.

When she’s not writing or teaching, Alicia loves to travel and experience new places. Connect with her on Facebook or Instagram, she’d love to hear from you!

To find out more about Ms. Anthony, please visit:

**INHERENT FATE**

Publication date: July 21, 2020

Series: Blood Secrets #3

Genres: Psychological, Suspense

**BLURB**

A discarded asset stripped of her identity…

An emotionally scarred ex-agent…

An innocent life hanging in the balance…

Who would you trust if the world was out to get you?

Losing Liv Sullivan in a Bureau operation gone bad turned ex-agent Ridge McCaffrey into a broken man. So when fate reunites him with the woman he thought was dead, he’ll risk anything to make her part of his life again.

Liv Sullivan returned to the States with two goals: end the FBI’s corrupt GenLink psychic intelligence program and reclaim the life it stole from her. But when the case against GenLink exposes a threat against Ridge’s son, the cost becomes too great. Refusing to destroy more lives, she leaves Ridge, and the chance to reclaim her identity, behind.

But as a new generation of GenLink closes in, once-trusted allies become enemies, and long-buried secrets threaten.

Can Liv and Ridge end GenLink before echoes of the past destroy their future?

Inherent Fate is the compelling third installment in the Blood Secrets psychological suspense series. For fast-paced, emotionally intense story lines that keep you up past your bedtime, and intricate plots laced with romance, this award-winning series is for you.

Book 3 of 3. Series is best enjoyed in sequence.

**EXCERPT**

The unmistakable thunk of a body. The involuntary exhale of someone having the wind knocked out of them–female, if Ridge had to guess–was audible even from the window side of his hotel room.

“Christ, Evan, watch yourself.” Tony’s voice, loud and unmistakable, filtered from under the doorway as Ridge moved toward the door. “She’s not the enemy.”

Tightness gripped Ridge’s chest and he pushed the desk chair out of his way, toppling it to the floor as he brushed past.

“This was your choice, Olivia.” The words stopped him cold–the chill of the metal door handle colliding with the heat of his fingers sent a spiral of anxiety up his spine.

“You knew there’d be consequences. You can’t change your mind now. It’s too late.”

Ridge pushed the balloon of air from his lungs and rested his forehead against the faux wood veneer above the peephole. He forced reason to join the ranks of uncontrollable hope that swelled in his chest.

“No one ever said this would be easy,” Michelle continued. Only she and Tony were visible from Ridge’s fishbowl view.

“Let. Me. Go.” That voice, those words punctuated by restorative breath, stole every fiber of logic from Ridge’s body. He swung the door open and stepped into the hall.

His breath caught as he met her gaze. Real. Tangible. Here. A thump of blood rushed against his eardrums, silenced by the breath of her name sliding across his lips. “Liv.”

“What if my grandmother’s right?”

Ridge’s eyes skimmed mine, all wary hesitation.

The heaviness in my chest weighed on me, making normal breath difficult. I sucked in a lungful of the sweet farm air, my heart pounding. My grandmother’s loopy scrawls at the bottom of the typewritten page burned into my memory. I repeated the scrawl. “Offspring viability uncertain. If she’s right, what does that mean for us? Our future?”

Ridge and I had only ever talked about having a family in passing. We’d never been stable enough to give it serious thought. But coming back to Cascade Hills, starting over, made space for the conversation.

Ridge turned me to face him. “We don’t know what that means. No matter what, it doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

“What if it changes how I feel about me?”

The vibrant blue of Ridge’s eyes set against the reddish-purple bruise across the bridge of his nose was more than I could take. That injury was only one of many he’d endured during our time together, and no matter what excuse he gave, I knew this one was a direct result of not telling him about my last minute flight change.

“I’m twenty-nine years old.”

Ridge smiled. “Not for four months.”

“If I can’t have kids,” I whispered, “can you live with that?”

A hard vacuum of silence sucked at the space between us. I forced my eyes up slowly, dragging over his body until I reached his face.

“What kind of question is that?” Hurt stretched across Ridge’s features.

“You used to talk about it. I don’t want to be the reason–”

“The reason I get to spend the rest of my life with the woman I love? The reason I can fall asleep at night and for the first time in seven months, really sleep? I love you, Liv. Not some idealized version of a maybe future. But you. Here. Today.”

“Say that again.” Water lapped at the lakeshore in the distance.

He stepped forward slowly. Gravel crunched under the soles of his shoes as he reached for me. “I love you, Liv. Only you.”

Ridge’s gaze combed over my face. Pain dulled the cerulean sea of his eyes. He shifted his hand to tuck an unruly curl behind my ear. The corner of his mouth twitched, as if he was deciding the weight of his words. By the time he spoke it was little more than a whisper.

“Stay. Please.”

Another vibration–desperation–sparked at me as his thumb traced my jaw. I jerked away on instinct and Ridge dropped his hand in surrender.

“No,” I shook my head, trying to help him understand it wasn’t his touch I’d pulled away from. “Touch me again,” I whispered.

Ridge lifted his hand to graze my cheek once more, his eyes scouring me for signs of unease. I closed my eyes to his touch. At first, nothing but the warm security of his hands against my skin seeped through. But as his thumb started down my jaw, the spark hummed, this time with confusion and pain. I fought the reactionary exhale for as long as I could, absorbing his energy. But the moment it came, he knew–and I felt it.

“I can feel you,” I whispered. He leaned closer, absorbing the words into the depths of his kiss. He tugged, pressing closer as a spike of heat from low in my belly ignited into flame.

I closed my eyes, expecting to see a monster’s face. But it never came, driven away by the buzz between us. I wanted his skin against mine, needed the sensation of his own desire meshing with my own–proof I wasn’t damaged beyond repair. Electric sparks of desperate need danced along exposed skin.

Ridge lifted me from the edge of the mattress, his lips never leaving mine. He tossed the covers back, repositioning me toward the head of the bed. He left me there, holding up his index finger in a wait-a-minute signal while he returned to the door. Shoving a nightstand in front of the unlockable slab of wood, he stepped back to admire his handiwork.

“Nice,” I admired, unable to contain the giggle bubbling into my chest. “You act like you might have done this a time or two.”

Ridge shrugged. “What? The door? Just twice actually, and not for the reasons you think.” He unzipped his hoodie and pulled it from his arms, depositing it on the floor at his feet before tugging the white t-shirt over his head, ruffling the deep mahogany waves of his hair.

I propped up onto my elbow to enjoy the view as he slipped in next to me.

“Is this okay?” he asked.

I nodded, a choke of memories I’d just as soon forget taunted from the recesses of my brain. He took my hand, planting my palm over his heart, chasing them away. His eyes burned into mine. Electric sparks buzzed through my hand and into my arm, like the touch of an electric fence.

“What do you feel?” His voice slid like caramel through me, coating dregs of irrational fear. I focused on the churning emotions vibrating through my hand. The harsh knives of anger, frustration, and loss dulled into pinpricks by overwhelming hope. Love dueled with desperation below the surface, dusting all the other emotions with thin layers of skepticism and worry.

“Worry,” I breathed. “Hope. But, Ridge, I can’t stay.”

“Shh–” Ridge lifted an index finger to cover my lips. “Right now, you’re here. In this moment. In my arms. And I never thought I’d get that chance again.”

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