Word of Honor by Hallee Bridgeman

FBI Special Agent Lynda Culter is investigating an ecoterrorist organization in the Alaskan wilderness when her partner is taken captive and murdered before her very eyes. The only person who can identify the key players, Lynda gets assigned to take part in a joint operation in Istanbul to take the organization down.

As a woman in a Muslim country, she’ll find it much easier to move around undetected with a fake husband. Unfortunately for her, the man assigned to play the role is none other than US Army weapons specialist Bill Sanders—the man who crushed her heart into a million pieces back in college.

With a cargo bay’s worth of hurt and baggage between them, these two consummate professionals must play their parts perfectly if they hope to stop those responsible for bombing oil pipelines, killing innocent civilians, and threatening to destabilize the oil markets. But love long buried has a way of resurfacing at the most inopportune times—and protecting Lynda has become Bill’s primary focus.

Hallee Bridgeman recently spent some time with The Big Thrill discussing her latest thriller, WORD OF HONOR.

Was there anything new you discovered or that surprised you as you wrote this book?

In the midst of writing this book, the US pulled out of Afghanistan. It completely threw off a lot of my initial characterization. I had to reset the scenes for the second book in the series. I scrambled with my character from the prequel novella who was Afghan-born and raised. It all pulled together in a seamless way in the end.

Hallee Bridgeman

What attracts you to this book’s genre?

I have always loved romantic suspense. I read a variety of genres, but the suspense is always my first go-to. I love the puzzle of putting the plot together so that the romance is as interesting as the suspense story—and so that the suspense feeds the reader the way they expect it to.

Without spoilers, are there any genre conventions you wanted to upend or challenge with this book?

It was important to me to give the readers a military hero in a realistic way. I have long suffered through books, movies, and television shows that depict the military in a stereotypical fashion. I wanted realistic situations, actions, reactions that would bring honor to the people in my life who have and are still serving.

Which took shape first: plot, character, or setting?

I always start with characters. I might have a concept about what kind of situation they’re going to be in, but until I have my characters truly fleshed out and three-dimensional, nothing else is more than a vague idea.

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Hallee Bridgeman is the USA Today bestselling author of several action-packed romantic suspense books and series. An Army brat turned Floridian, Bridgeman and her husband finally settled in central Kentucky, where they have raised their three children. When she’s not writing, she pursues her passion for cooking, coffee, campy action movies, and regular date nights with her husband. An accomplished speaker and active member of several writing organizations, Bridgeman can be found online at www.halleebridgeman.com.