Life for ocean photographer Kristen Turner is all about living it to the fullest after her fight with cancer. She is in Hawaii to realize a dream not to find romance. It finds her in the form of Army doctor, Captain Luke Andrews who saved the life of her customer. He is a real life hero.
Luke believes he is no one's hero. He has seen too much agony over the years and is unable to bear the pain, hence his vacation in Hawaii. He's not doing very well forgetting though. The nightmares he is plagued with won't stop so watching Kristen is a welcome distraction. He would not be good company for any woman but something about Kristen won't let him stay away. Soon they began dating and as long as Luke can keep it all about sex things should be fine. That's what his mind says but his heart tells a different story and Luke puts some space between them. When Kristen is hurt, Luke comes back around but this time she is not so giving. Kristen knows he does not plan on anything more than a vacation fling but she's still hoping for a future with the man who stole her heart.
ONCE A HERO provides double the pleasure for your money with two romances for the price of one set against the sultriness of island living. The second romance between the heroine's two friends kept me reading, their chemistry was off the charts. The hero has too much angst and he didn't treat the heroine very well. Kristen is a wonderful heroine, full of life that could be felt throughout the story.
Once a hero…always a hero
Subject: Captain Luke Andrews, M.D.
Current Status: On stress leave in beautiful Hawaii
Mission: Rest and recovery
Obstacle: There's no rest from the wicked chemistry he's
found with her
After a too-close-for-comfort brush with cancer, ocean
photographer Kristen Turner heads to Hawaii for three
months, where fate hands her a smokin'-hot opportunity she
can't resist….
Captain Luke Andrews has to get some serious R & R, but he
can't keep his hands off Kristen. She's wild and
irresistible, and spending his nights with her seems more
dangerous than his last mission.
But is their hot little vacation romp an escape from real
life…or will the survivor and the hero battle it out
and
learn to live each day as a gift?
EXCERPT
Luke jerked awake on a choked off shout. Geez. He'd
fallen asleep in the club chair in the living room. The dog
whined and stuck his cold nose under Luke's hand. Bleary-
eyed, he found the TV remote, switched off the infomercial,
then stumbled to the bathroom and splashed water on his
face. The dream had been different this time. Bloodier.
Feeling nauseated, he avoided the mirror above the sink
and made his way to the balcony. He opened the sliding
glass door and stepped out into a salty sea breeze and the
reassuring sound of crashing waves.
After a couple of deep gulps of air, he leaned his
forearms on the railing and stared into the night sky.
There was a bottle of over-the-counter sleeping pills in
the bathroom medicine cabinet. Maybe he should try one. But
he should be able to deal with this without resorting to
medication, damn it.
Give it time, Andrews. The advice had come from John,
along with the key to his condo. And John had studied
psychotherapy before switching to orthopedics.
This was only Luke's fourth day here.
From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of that same
blonde he'd seen last night pedaling her bike southbound on
Kihei Road. He turned his wrist and checked his watch. Two-
thirty. Again.
She dismounted and chained her bike to the rack just as
she'd done the night before. She wore the same outfit, too.
She turned away and headed down to the surf. As she had the
night before the blonde lifted her face and arms to the
moon. Was she some sort of new-age, moon worshipper?
After playing in the surf a while she went back to her
bike and walked it to the condos. Just before she entered
the foyer she looked up and without thinking he stepped
back into the shadowed doorway.
Luke held his breath. What are you doing, Andrews, you
moron? So what if she knew he'd been watching her?
Should he step out to the balcony and act as if he'd
just gone back inside to get something? Smile and wave as
if this were just a normal meeting? But he couldn't force
his lips to curve upward. It was almost as if he'd
forgotten how to smile. But it turned out it didn't matter.
When he braved the balcony again, she was gone.
© 2003-2026