Please welcome the wonderful author Amber Daulton. She’s here to talk about her latest sizzling romance Dark Hearts Aflame.
Thank you so much!
Bristol Rieger is one of my
favorite heroes that I’ve ever written. Rather, he’s not a hero, but an
anti-hero. I’ve always had a thing for the bad guys! Anyway, he was so awesome
as a secondary character in the Arresting Onyx series that I wanted to give him
his own book. After all the trauma I put him through, he deserved a bit of
happiness. So I wrote this book, under a different title, fully expecting it to
be the final book in the series. Only it didn’t fit well within the guidelines
that I’d established for my Arresting Onyx world.
What was I to do? That
question plagued me for months. Seriously. Months!
After some tears and an
extremely long conversation with my supportive husband, I finally decided to
listen to the niggling voice in the back of my mind and remove the book from
the series. I knew deep down that I had to create a spin-off, but I resisted
because of the extra work it would entail. Once I finally accepted what my head
already knew, I reworked the story, re-titled it, and set it as book one in my
new dark romance spin-off, the Lozano Cartel.
Book two, Lost in His
Spiderwebs, is already under way. I’ve very proud of these books, and I hope
you enjoy Dark Hearts Aflame
as much as I do.
What’s the story?
Blurb:
A drug lord on the run. A
cartel princess in hiding. All it takes is a spark to set their world ablaze.
Bristol Rieger left his
criminal life behind for a fresh start in Mexico. Flying under the radar of the
government and the cartels alike, his best-laid plans go awry when a woman from
his narco days discovers his whereabouts. Carmen Lozano, however, is no longer
the innocent girl he remembers.
Carmen escaped the chains of
her tiara and her abusive marriage to join a group of resistance fighters. The
last thing she expected was the now-retired capo setting out to seduce her with
his wicked touch. Embracing the blood on his hands is easy, but his secrets
wear on her patience.
When their enemies close in,
Bristol will have to summon his inner monster to protect her. But can that
monster be tamed again?
– Book one is an
Interracial (Hispanic woman/white man) dark romance novel in the Lozano Cartel
series. All the books can be read as a standalone, but are part of an
interconnected series.
Excerpt:
He strode down the hall, his
leather huaraches thudding on the white-and-blue mosaic tile. A flickering
embossed ceiling light cast shadows across the smooth orange walls despite the
explosion of sunlight pouring through the lobby windows. Taking a deep breath,
he entered the laundry room and closed the door behind him with a soft snick.
The racket from the heavy-duty washers and dryers along the back wall pierced
his ears, the machines shaking like they had palsy. The stench of bleach stung
his nostrils.
Carmen likely didn’t hear him
come in. She faced away from him and dumped a basket of white towels onto a
metal workstation. Then she stored the basket with several others on the bottom
shelf of a shelving unit that spanned the length of the right side wall.
Folded towels, bed linens,
colorful blankets and quilts, toiletries, and cleaning supplies stocked the
upper shelves.
Most women couldn’t pull off
her ugly gray blouse and ill-fitted black slacks with any sense of style, but
somehow, she made it work. She should throw out her dour low-heeled black shoes
for a pair of stilettos. The high heels would do wonders for her long legs. Her
golden-brown ponytail swayed as she moved, begging him to pull it.
As he studied her now from
behind, she could be anyone. Just another woman working a dead-end job to
survive. Had his mind played tricks on him? Did he see Carmen in the woman’s
face because he wanted to believe she was alive and well somewhere in the world?
Heat slicked sweat on his
nape, despite the air chugging from the floor vents and the industrial-sized
floor fan oscillating in the corner. Opposite the workstation and storage
space, a kitchenette resembling the one in his hotel room lined the wall. However,
the old whirring refrigerator needed replacing, and the cabinets required a
fresh coat of paint.
He tsked. Back in the States,
his employees never had to work in such a hot, dingy environment or relax in a
shitty break room. Nor did the housekeeping staff at Sky Resorts Hotel, his
family’s legitimate hotel chain that his relatives now managed. But that ship
had long sailed.
Bristol bypassed a cart
stocked with toiletries and two empty wheeled canvas hampers in the middle of
the workroom. Itching to grab her close and demand to know her interest in him,
he would rather not scare her. He coughed to gain her attention.
She sloppily folded a face
towel, then grabbed a washcloth, her hands visibly shaking.
“May I have some towels?”
Bristol asked in Spanish.
The maid ducked her gaze,
grabbed a few recently folded items, pulled two bath towels from the shelf, and
closed the distance between them. Without glancing up, she thrust everything
into his outstretched arms, the scent of bleach and lavender clinging to the
fabric. She pivoted and returned to her workstation.
He sighed hard, rolling his
eyes. “Are you Carmen Lozano Sanchez?” His voice sharpened as her full given
name ripped off his tongue. He couldn’t stomach tacking on her husband’s
surname.
Her hands stilled, and a towel
slid from her grasp. She shook her head and grabbed the fabric. “No hablo
Inglés.”
“Given the way you stopped
dead, you speak English and understood my question just fine.” He set the soft,
fragrant towels aside and stomped toward her. “You’re Carmen, I know—”
She flipped around with a
small dagger in her hand and glared at him. The overhead light glinted on the
blade. Shoulders hunched, she braced her feet in a wide stance.
He stepped back, hands up to
placate her.
Anger and fear blazed in her
hazel eyes, the specks of emerald turning molten in her brown irises. He wasn’t
mistaken. This fiery woman was Carmen Lozano, cartel princess.
Title: Dark Hearts Aflame
Series: Lozano Cartel (book 1)
Release Date: April 8, 2025
Publisher: Daulton Publishing
Cover Designer: Satin Rose Designs
ASIN:
B0D18CB8CF
Genre: Dark Romance
Length: 90k
Heat Rating: 5 Flames
Download Links:
Download Direct from Author (Receive a $2 Discount): https://books.amberdaulton.com/darkheartsaflamedirect
Universal: https://books2read.com/darkheartsaflame
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4hGWOog
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-hearts-aflame-amber-daulton/1144724204
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-hearts-aflame
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=vtfwEAAAQBAJ
Apple/iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/dark-hearts-aflame/id6544805264
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1509101
Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/211106548-dark-hearts-aflame-lozano-cartel-book-1
Check it out on BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/dark-hearts-aflame-lozano-cartel-book-1-an-on-the-run-dark-cartel-romantic-suspense-by-amber-daulton
About the Author
Amber Daulton is the author
of the Lozano Cartel, the Arresting Onyx, and the Ramseys in Time series, as
well as several standalone novellas. Her books are published through Daulton
Publishing, The Wild Rose Press, and Books to Go Now, and are available in
ebook, print on demand, audio, and foreign language formats.
She lives in North Carolina
with her husband and demanding cats.
Social Media Links
Follow Me: https://linktr.ee/AmberDaulton
Check out my website (Daulton
Publishing): https://amberdaulton.com
