Deep Blue: Réunion Island Correction

My apologies. If you purchased Deep Blue: Réunion Island at the end of July, you may have noticed that Alec confessed something to Grace that he'd already shared in Deep Blue: Australia. Sometimes discrepancies slip through despite my rigorous editorial process. I'm happy to say that as of August 1, all Deep Blue: Réunion Island files have been updated to maintain consistency from the previous novella. If you purchased the book before that date from Amazon and would like to have the updated version, you'll need to contact Amazon customer service and have them push the new file onto your device. Unfortunately, it won't automatically update. I'm not sure how it works on the other eBook platforms (Apple, Nook, Kobo, and Google Play). If you're purchasing the book after August 1, then you should receive the updated file and can ignore this notice.

Thank you to everyone! My readers are awesome (and forgiving). I'm working on another Deep Blue novella, which I hope to have out this fall. Stay tuned!

New Deep Blue Novella Releases

By Kristy McCaffrey

When shark researcher Grace Mann accompanies her boyfriend, underwater filmmaker Alec Galloway, to Western Australia for a commercial shoot with great whites, she envisions relaxing days in the sun and smoldering nights between the sheets. But as Alec’s mood becomes increasingly distant, Grace worries the chemistry they shared—so effortless in the beginning—was starting to fizzle. Is his reticence related to her, or something else? And can she find a way to help him get the footage he needs before his behavior places his life in danger?

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(Please note: This novella was previously accessible only to Kristy's newsletter subscribers, but is now available for purchase. If you would like a free download, sign-up here for the newsletter.)

* * * * *

“Bull shark,” Grace confirmed. “And a big one by the look of it.”

Dr. Grace Mann has joined her boyfriend, underwater filmmaker Alec Galloway, on a trip to the French island of Réunion. Alec and his team—Dan “Double D” Donovan and Stephie Kim—have come to document the capture and relocation of mature bull sharks from the western coastline.

For over ten years, shark attacks have terrorized the people of Réunion, essentially ruining the diving and surfing industry. Angry exchanges between locals who want the sharks culled and a government trying to preserve the ecology of the ocean environment have failed to resolve the issue.

The relocation program is a last-ditch effort to bring a peaceful coexistence between humans and sharks, but Grace’s resolve will be tested as she enters the water with these tenacious predators. Bull sharks didn’t earn their name because they were polite.

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Excerpt from Deep Blue: Réunion Island

Movement caught her eye, and she barely had a chance to shine the light of her camera toward it when a blunt nose slammed into her, shoving her violently through the water. The beady eye, a black slit against white, watched her, then its gills slid past in a flurry as the fish flicked and turned away, the dislodged camera sinking to the sea floor. Stunned, Grace struggled to keep her regulator in her mouth as the dark abyss swallowed up the equipment in the last bit of light.

She should swim down and retrieve it, but every fiber in her screamed to get out of the water. The shark had every advantage in the dark. Kicking her fins, she headed to the boat. When her head broke the surface, she spit the regulator out.

“Stephie! Get out of the water!”

The men were struggling with the captured shark and their shouts drowned out her voice. Stephie swam closer, struggling to keep her head out of the water, her heavy air tank weighing her down. A fin crested the surface behind her.

Grace ducked under, her mask still on, and pushed Stephie aside, extending her arm and shoving hard when the shark came close. The bull turned and her hand scraped on its rough skin as it bolted away.

Whipping her head above water, Grace sucked in a breath.

“You go,” Grace gasped to Stephie, who was still behind her. “I’ll watch your back.”

Stephie moved quickly to the ladder hanging off the boat, and Grace followed, her gaze continuously scanning the surroundings. A pressure wave pushed into her. She put her face in the water just in time to see a large shadow pass below.

The goddamned shark was beneath her.

Without looking up, she kept moving to where she thought the ladder was. The shadow turned, moving upward, revealing the unmistakable outline of a shark. The aggressive beast was coming straight for her. She readied herself to redirect with her hand, but it would meet her feet first. Did she have enough strength to kick it? Grace really didn’t want it to snag one of her flippers.

Pumping her arms, Grace prayed the boat was behind her.

With the shark almost upon her, she was suddenly yanked from the water. She flew onto the back deck of the boat as the shark slapped the surface with its caudal fin, turned sharply, and splashed her as it spun away.

“What the hell was that?” Alec said in her ear.

With relief, she leaned back into him. “Mother Nature’s perfect creation.”

Copyright © 2019 K. McCaffrey LLC

Pathway Series Reading Order:

Deep Blue

Deep Blue: Australia (A Pathway Novella)

Deep Blue: Réunion Island (A Pathway Novella)

Cold Horizon

Cold Horizon: Telluride (A Pathway Novella)

DEEP BLUE releases today!! @McCaffreyKristy #romance #oceanadventure

It's here!! I hope you'll join me on an ocean adventure with a determined shark researcher, a hunky underwater filmmaker, and a bevy of great white sharks.

In the deep blue ocean lives an ancient predator…

Dr. Grace Mann knows great white sharks. As the daughter of an obsessed shark researcher based at the Farallon Islands, Grace spent her childhood in the company of these elegant and massive creatures. When a photo of her freediving with a great white goes viral, the institute where she works seeks to capitalize on her new-found fame by producing a documentary about her work.

Underwater filmmaker Alec Galloway admires Dr. Mann and jumps at the opportunity to create a film showcasing the pretty biologist. As he heads to Guadalupe Island in Baja California Sur for a three-week expedition, it’s clear that his fan-boy crush on Grace is turning into something more serious. But even more pressing—Grace’s passionate focus on the sharks just might get her killed.

How about another excerpt?

“I’ve only had one ex who drew blood,” Alec said. “How’d you get the bite?”

The waitress reappeared with two more tall beakers of beer. She also set a basket of wings on the table. “It’s from John.”

“Thank you,” Grace said, a hungry glint in her gaze as she looked at the food.

The waitress grabbed the previous glasses, now empty, then left them alone once again. Grace unrolled her napkin and removed the silverware tucked inside, then pushed the edge of the white cloth into the neckline of her dress. She grabbed a wing, dipped it into the accompanying cup of ranch dressing, and ate like a ravenous teenage boy.

“Why didn’t you say something?” Alec said.

“What do you mean?” Barbecue sauce smeared her upper lip.

“I’ll buy you dinner if you’re hungry.”

“This isn’t a date, Galloway.”

No, it wasn’t. “Got it,” he said, annoyed by the sting of her comment.

Apparently with Dr. Mann it was two steps forward and one step back. He snatched a wing since she was already on her second one. At the rate she was going, he’d be lucky to get another.

“So?” he prompted, biting into the spicy meat. “The scar?”

“Right. It was a great white.”

“But you said you only freedived that one time in the presence of a white.”

She dropped a carcass of bones back into the basket and licked her fingers. “It happened when I was a kid. My dad spent several months each year stationed at the Farallon Islands researching the whites.” She removed the napkin at her neck, wiped her mouth, then her hands. “Once Chloe and I were old enough, he’d bring us along for a week or two at a time.” She laughed. “My mom hated it. She didn’t think it was safe. My dad and I agreed never to tell her how bad it was when I got bit, but Chloe eventually spilled it. After that, Mom threatened to never let us go again, but Dad eventually wore her down.”

Alec stared at her, slack-jawed. The Farallones—a collection of granite peaks jutting from the Pacific Ocean and known as the Devil’s Teeth—were just a hop, skip, and a jump from San Francisco Bay. The water was undeniably cold year-round, not to mention murky, and the weather was hell most of the time. “You got in the water around the Farallones?” he uttered in stunned disbelief. “When you were a kid?”

She’d finally wiped most of the wing sauce from her appendages, although a faint smear still rested on her cheek. When she looked at him again, she paused, noticing his shock. “It wasn’t on purpose. I was out with Dad on the small outboard he used to visit shark attacks on the seals when the love of his life bumped us. I was perched on the gunwale. It was entirely bad luck.”

“No shit,” he choked out.

“I fell in, and a big beautiful sister sideswiped me, ripping off my lifejacket like it was a piece of tissue. Her teeth grazed my neck enough to slice it open, but thankfully it wasn’t a deep wound.”

“A sister?”

“It’s what the researchers call the large females, the twenty-footers. There’s only ever been a handful of them documented over the years. They generally travel alone and always dominate the feeding grounds.” Her eyes went glassy. “There’s nothing like them anywhere on earth. They’re a sight to behold.”

“How old were you?”

“Twelve. Dad yanked me out before Bonnie came around for another pass.”

Where had he heard that name before?

Recognition surfaced. “I think I know your shark.”

“Really?” Excitement animated her face.

Overcome with an urge to touch her, Alec grabbed his napkin and wiped the sauce from her face. She immediately brushed her fingers across both cheeks, attempting to find anything else left behind.

“You’re good,” he muttered, reluctantly withdrawing his hand.

“Well?” she prompted, her complexion flush in a rosy glow.

But he knew it wasn’t for him. If he’d learned anything about Grace Mann in the last day and a half, it was that it wasn’t just her father who’d had a love affair with great whites—his daughter was head over heels as well.

“I dived the Farallones once, and only once, two years ago. Even now, it still makes my heart skip a beat and my palms sweat.”

Copyright © 2018 K. McCaffrey LLC

Purchase Links for Digital Copies

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2EvkoFC

Amazon UK: http://bit.ly/2sb667W

Amazon CA: http://bit.ly/2nLGJ8a

Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2ENIvwV

Amazon IN: http://bit.ly/2BirM5l

iBooks: https://apple.co/2EcI8L4

Nook: http://bit.ly/2nUyndQ

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2GZcW40

Google Play: http://bit.ly/2EbV2cr

Also available in print

And I've got a special treat for my newsletter subscribers - an exclusive novella not available anywhere else.

When shark researcher Grace Mann accompanies her boyfriend, underwater filmmaker Alec Galloway, to Western Australia for a commercial shoot with great whites, she envisions relaxing days in the sun and smoldering nights between the sheets. But as Alec’s mood becomes increasingly distant, Grace worries that maybe the chemistry they shared—so effortless in the beginning—was starting to fizzle. Is his reticence related to her, or something else? And can she find a way to help him get the footage he needs before his behavior places his life in danger?

Current newsletter subscribers will receive the download code this week. Keep an eye on your inbox. If you're not a subscriber, sign-up here.