“I love you.” He wasn’t sure who was more surprised by his outburst, him or her. Her. Definitely her, he decided a second later when her face blanched and the pulse beating in her throat went thready. Fuck. So much for living up to your nickname. Romeo was romantic. That was just…clumsy. “Breathe, Mia,” he instructed quietly and watched her suck in a ragged breath. He opened his mouth to add, he wasn’t sure what, but she beat him to the punch. “I love you too.” He blinked, not quite believing his ears. His heart believed them. And it couldn’t decide whether it wanted to burst with joy or fly out of his mouth on wings of happiness. Maybe both. Fly out of his mouth and then explode like a confetti cannon, leaving little paper hearts raining down around them. He had to make sure the pain meds weren’t making him hallucinate. “You do?” he asked cautiously. “Of course I do. You’re the most amazing man I’ve ever met. The most amazing person I’ve ever met.” She shrugged. “How could I not love you?” With every word out of her mouth, his elation grew. In fact, it was so big…

Hi, Julie Ann! Welcome back to Fresh Fiction. Please tell us about yourself and your new book, RIDE THE TIDE.  Holla Fresh Fictioners! It’s so good to be back! My name is Julie Ann Walker, I’m the NYT and USA Today bestselling author of steamy, sexy romantic suspense novels and epic love stories that will melt your heart. (Or at least that’s what I TRY to write. Ha! I guess I’ll leave it up to you guys to determine whether or not I hit my mark.) I have a mutt named Conan who suffers from allergies, howls at sirens, and would love to FINALLY catch a squirrel. And I’ve travelled to over 50 countries because I suffer from more than my fair share of wanderlust. For readers who aren’t familiar with the Deep Six series, can you catch us up to speed on what’s been going on?  Deep Six is a romantic suspense and adventure series set on a fictional island in the Gulf of Mexico. It follows six “retired” Navy SEALs as they hunt for the lost treasure of the world’s holy grail of sunken shipwrecks, the Santa Cristina. The series tagline is: Six men. One sunken Spanish galleon….