Hi everyone, I am Jeff the Bookdragon, The Guardian of The Magic Book Corner.

Welcome to my den and my feature.

A Dragon's Heart-to-Heart with a Book Hero

Today, you're going to meet 

Nikolas Hunter 

from The Sentinels: Saving Him by Cassidy Reyne.

I timed it straight at the end of Nikolas' story, because the man wouldn't have agreed to come to my den for a Heart-to-Heart otherwise. As it is, I had to ask Anya for help and she practically had to shove him out the door. With about a dozen bodyguards and a home that's more secure than my own treasury the man is still worried. Bah!

Nevertheless, here is our little chat.

Jeff: Welcome to my den Nikolas. Will you please tell our readers a little bit about yourself. Who and what are you exactly? And what do you do for a living? 

Nikolas: Hi, Jeff. I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing here, but Anya said I had to come. I really should be at home with her, you know. Anyway, I’m a husband and a man first and foremost. But I’m also a Sentinel. We don’t really like to expose ourselves too much but as it’s you asking, I’m happy to explain. Being a Sentinel means I’m part of a large group of people who are spread all around the world. We’re just like anyone else, only slightly different. I’m the Chief of Operations at The Sentinels Boston Global Head Office and my job is to make sure all the different areas we are involved in run smoothly. I’m also the main point of contact for all our national and international divisions. 

Jeff: What are the Sentinels? And what do they do? 

Nikolas: This is not an easy question to answer. No one seems to know how we came to be or where our abilities come from, but we can sense when another of our kind is nearby. It’s a bit like a vibration or buzzing in the back our minds. The Sentinel organization’s fundamental goal is help those who genuinely need it. We have charitable foundations, offer scholarships, run after school hangouts for kids and help teens with apprenticeships or college fees. We also support businesses, hospitals and shelters of every kind. In short, we’re here to help anyone who asks for it, and those who don’t. We do that through making money on things like the stock market and real estate holdings. Sorry, Jeff, this must be a little bit boring. We help people. That’s it. 

Jeff: Anya is your Jumeaux. Your soulmate. Tell me a little more about this connection of yours. It looks like that love at first sight but it's much more than that, right? 

Nikolas: Yeah, Anya is my everything, I won’t live without her. Okay, this is probably quite hard to understand, but the best way to describe a Jumeaux is literally the other half of your soul. Like finding that missing piece of a puzzle that makes up the whole picture. Jumeaux are so rare among us Sentinels there’s no way of telling if you are one until you meet your soulmate. Most of us probably never do. As for love at first sight, well, have you seen my wife? How could I not fall for her? She’s everything I’d ever dreamed of. Brains, beauty, kindness, and a heart so big it has room for everyone she comes into contact with. Our connection is… mesmerizing, incredibly strong and it’s just growing stronger. I can sense her moods and feelings from hundreds, even thousands of miles away. The further away she is the more indistinct they are, but I can still feel them even when she’s in California. It has saved us more than once and I can’t imagine not being that closely connected to her. It would be like shutting down part of my brain. It’s completely weird and spooky, I know, but I love knowing how she feels at any given moment. 

Jeff: You and Anya go through very dark times in that series of yours. Who are you up against? 

Nikolas: Really? You want me to tell you about the worst times of my life? Oh boy, you asked for it. For starters, in the first book, Anya is abducted by our arch nemesis, the Grits, who are the Sentinels’ complete opposites. We’d only known each other for two weeks when the bastards grabbed her and put her through absolute hell. And if that wasn’t enough, they then bioengineered a virus that only affected us Sentinels! We came back from our honeymoon to a huge crisis and within hours she was in a hospital bed fighting for her life! It was bad. Really bad. 

*Jeff tilts his head to the side looking a bit troubled*

Nikolas: No, don’t worry. I’m okay, I’ve got something in my eye, that’s all. 

*a huge tissue box is slowly pushed towards the guest* 

Nikolas stares at it, then continues: In the second book, the past rears its ugly head and… jeez, the things I did to her and to my friends. You know what, Jeff? I’m surprised they’re even talking to me after that. I don’t want to give away too many spoilers but from what Cassidy has been told by some of her readers, you need a whole box of tissues at hand when you read it. 

Jeff: What is your favorite part of the story? 

Nikolas: All the times I spend with Anya, of course. They’re always my favorite parts of any story. Although, if I have to narrow it down, it would be the night in New York when she said yes and then our wedding in the first book. In the second book it’s the part where she tells me she still wants me and still loves me. I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have her by my side. She’s nothing short of amazing. 

Jeff: And what was the most difficult thing your author put you through? 

Nikolas: Can I be honest, Jeff? Cassidy has a terrifyingly evil and wicked mind. She really does. The torture she’s put us through would be enough for a hundred couples to deal with. Why she has it in for us — or maybe it’s me she wants to punish? — I just don’t understand. It’s a miracle we both survived. I can’t even talk about it. It’s… too painful. I came so close to losing the only woman I will ever loved Actually, I came within a hair’s breadth of losing everything and everyone I’d ever known. As it was, I only barely escaped with my life intact, but worst of all was thinking I’d lost my soulmate. My only reason for living. 

Jeff, nodding in agreement, goes on with his questions: Tell me a little bit about your mate, Anya 

Nikolas: The absolute truth is that I would be completely lost without her. I know that makes me sound like a sap, but I don’t care. Nothing is more important to me than her happiness and safety. She’s strong, independent, intelligent and absolutely smoking hot. But the best thing about her is that she loves me despite all my faults and disappointments. She’s had so much to deal with from an early age, like her parents passing away, a stalker making her life hell, and then finding out she’s a Sentinel and a Jumeaux. That’s a lot for anyone to deal with. Add all the challenges we’ve faced and you’ve got one hell of a kickass woman. And she’s all mine. I need her more than I need the air to breathe. 

Jeff: You failed her at one time. And she got badly hurt. Is that why you are hovering so much now? Because... I tell you truly, my mate would nip my snout and set my tail on fire if I tried to be with her as possessive as you are with your Anya right now. 

Nikolas: Whoa! That’s getting a bit personal, isn’t it? Do I have to answer? Ugh, of course, I do. Cassidy said so, right?

*Jeff stares at his guest.* 

Nikolas: Okay, fine! Here goes. Yes, her getting hurt so many times when I should have protected her and kept her safe is why I’m keeping such a close eye on her now. I can’t let anything else happen to her. She deserves better. She got hurt because I dropped the ball and let her down. I was too caught up in the joy of having her back in my arms after the viral infection and being married to the most amazing woman in the world, to see what was happening right under my nose. That’s on me, I accept that. Anya knows it makes me feel better to have the bodyguards shadowing her when she’s out and the house being as well protected as it is. She still has her freedom to do whatever she likes and to go anywhere she chooses. I’d never try to stop her and she would never stand for it. It’s a compromise. She puts up with it for my sake and I get a bit more peace of mind. Hmmmm, she’s humoring me, isn’t she? That’s my woman. 

Jeff: Tell me a little more about a Sentinel's power. 

Nikolas: So, this is where it gets a bit weird and how we really differ from normal people. We can send each other mindbursts, which is a bit like dropping your thoughts straight into another person’s mind, we can heal minor cuts and scratches by sending… energy, I guess, to the wounds. But I think the strangest thing we can do is to send our life energy to another Sentinel through a telepathic bond. It’s a bit like going into a coma. Instead of being hooked up to machines, our minds connect and the link only severs when the receiver doesn’t need it anymore. You have to be compatible, similar to organ donation, and the normal length of transfer is a few days to a couple of weeks. Our first one was six weeks and the second one seven months. No one even knew that was possible and it was no walk in the park, I can tell you. 

Jeff: And... last! I promise I'll take you right back. When readers start reading your story, what should they expect? 

Nikolas: That’s good, I don’t want to be away for too long, Anya is nearly due and our baby could come any day now. I’m not missing the birth for anything! The readers should expect a tall, dark and handsome guy — that’s me — falling for the most beautiful human being that ever lived and then nearly losing her — more than once. Our stories are full of tug-at-the-heartstrings emotion, drama, family and friends, loyalty, terrifying challenges and a love so strong it will take your breath away. The reader will be swept away on a wave of suspense and experience a rollercoaster of emotions. Keep those tissues handy!    

That would be all from our Nikolas as Jeff had to time him back to his beloved as soon as the last question had been answered. But our dragon is now more curious than ever about those dark plans of the Sentinels' author. And he'll invite some more people from her books for a chat. Starting with Anya. 

But ssshhh! Don't tell Nikolas about it! He's bound to make a fuss.

About the author: Cassidy Reyne

She is the author of the scorching dark contemporary romance series The Sentinels. Those books of hers are dark, heartbreaking and addictive. Among the most gripping romances I've read last year.

Cassidy Reyne is the Alter Ego of a Swedish girl living in England. She’s been happily married for over 25 years and have two grown up children. 

Cassidy writes contemporary romance with some suspense thrown in for some fun and excitement. The Sentinels - Saving Her is her debut novel. 

Cassidy currently lives in South London where she and her husband run their own business from home. 

When Cassidy isn’t writing she enjoys spending time with friends, visiting her family on an island in Sweden and drinking a glass or two of a good wine. Sometimes the wine is replaced with vodka or rum. Cocktails anyone? 

If you would like to connect with Cassidy you can find her on several social media sites.    

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cassidyreyne?ref=br_rs 

Instagram: @cassidyreyne 

Twitter: CassidyReyne 

Follow Cassidy on Amazon and check out her books while staying up to date with new releases here:  

https://www.amazon.com/Cassidy-Reyne/e/B07PN6JKS6?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1581172526&sr=1-1