This post contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Today I’m pleased to welcome Deena Alexander back to Salty Inspirations. You may remember her from previous visits featuring Exposing Lethal Secrets and Missing at Christmas. Today she’s stopping by with a special character guest post featuring Avery Taylor from Seeking the Kidnapped Child. I’m happy to share a glimpse into Avery’s world with you, and I hope you’ll enjoy getting to know one of the characters behind Deena’s latest novel.
Character Guest Post by Avery Taylor
I’m Avery Taylor, and under ordinary circumstances, I’d be thrilled to visit with you today. But these are far from ordinary circumstances. My four-year-old daughter, Lily, has been kidnapped and, while there is nothing I wouldn’t do to get her back, what her kidnappers are demanding is impossible. When they took her, the gunmen insisted I contact her father, Tristan McAvoy, and demand he refuse to testify at an upcoming trial. Apparently, the boy who left me had become an FBI agent.
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen or heard from Tristan since before I found out I was pregnant with Lily, ten days after his parents were brutally murdered. He didn’t believe the sheriff’s claim that their deaths had been senseless, a random mugging in a town where the only violent crime was an occasional bar fight. And I couldn’t blame him. I understood when he left Timberwood Falls, Montana, fearing every person he came in contact with on the streets of the small town might be the killer who murdered his parents. I even understood why he wouldn’t ask me to go with him. My grandfather, the man who’d raised me as his own after my own parents abandoned me, only to be killed in an accident in some foreign land, was sick. And he needed me.
I last saw Tristan when he showed up at my house early one morning, when my grandfather was in the middle of a coughing fit and needed a breathing treatment and I was battling what I now suspect was my first bout of morning sickness, and announced he was leaving. Ten days after his parents’ murder, while he’d grown colder, more distant, more consumed by grief. No matter how I tried to reach him—despite mourning the couple who’d treated me like their own daughter, had not only accepted me but loved me—he’d refused to accept any comfort from me, refused to offer any comfort in return. I understood, even then, that he had nothing to give. Yet, watching him lose himself in the bottomless well of grief and helplessness broke my heart. Still, I always held onto hope he’d return.
Would knowing about Lily have helped him heal?
Looking back, I probably should have mentioned in one of the umpteen-million messages I left that he was going to be a father. Instead, I just kept telling him to call me back, it was important. I suppose it was pride that kept me from simply saying I found out I was pregnant after you left, but I didn’t want him to return out of a sense of obligation to his child. I didn’t want him to feel forced to live somewhere that brought him such pain and grief to do right by me and our little girl. I wanted him to come back because he loved me, missed me, wanted to be with me—with us. So, instead, I just waited for him to call me back so I could share the truth with him. And before I knew it, days turned into years.
My grandfather passed away, and I inherited his cabin in the mountains of Montana. I work from home as a medical transcriptionist and supplement my income with my inheritance if need be. It’s a simple life, my days spent with my little girl, trapsing through the wilderness, romping amid fields of wildflowers, sitting alongside the waterfall, teaching her about nature and learning from her how to live a carefree life. Except, of course, when I’m lying awake at night reminiscing about the past and yearning for a future that can never be.
Anyway, now I’ve left yet another message for Tristan—this one a detailed recounting of what happened and a plea for help—and I can only hope it reaches him. Because the gunmen made it very clear that they would kill Lily if I contact the police or anyone other than Tristan. And if he doesn’t get the message, or he chooses to ignore it, I have no idea what to do.
by Deena AlexanderAbout Seeking the Kidnapped Child
Seeking the Kidnapped Child (Missing Person Investigations)
Inspirational Romantic Suspense
1st in Series
Setting – Montana
Publisher : Love Inspired Suspense
Publication date : July 28, 2026
Print length : 208 pages
Mass Market Paperback
ISBN-10 : 1335919074
ISBN-13 : 978-1335919076
Digital
ISBN-13 : 978-0369784308
ASIN : B0FXRPXKY9
When his daughter’s taken, getting her back is all that matters.
FBI Agent Tristan McAvoy just learned he’s a father—but his little girl’s been abducted by his enemies, and he’s caught in a deadly shoot-out the moment he tries to rescue her. He barely flees unscathed with his ex, Avery Taylor, and his K-9 partner in tow. The criminals have a deadly agenda—if Tristan testifies at an upcoming trial for a major crime boss, he’ll never see his child again. Stranded in the mountain wilderness, Tristan and Avery are trailed by ruthless mercenaries, who are closing in. Can they survive long enough to save their daughter—or will they be silenced forever?
From Love Inspired Suspense: Courage. Danger. Faith.
Missing Person Investigations
Book 1: Seeking the Kidnapped Child
About Deena Alexander
Deena Alexander grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, where she met and married her high school sweetheart. She recently relocated to Florida with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and four dogs. Now she enjoys long walks in nature all year long, despite the occasional alligator or snake she sometimes encounters. Deena’s love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night.
Author Links
Purchase Links
Tour Participants
July 28 – Salty Inspirations.com – CHARACTER GUEST POST
July 29 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, AUTHOR GUEST POST, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
July 30 – Angel’s Book Nook – SPOTLIGHT
July 30 – Sarandipity’s – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
July 31 – Sarcastically Yours, Jen – REVIEW
July 31 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
August 1 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
August 2 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
August 3 – StoreyBook Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST
August 4 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
August 4 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
August 5 – Baroness Book Trove – REVIEW
August 6 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
August 7 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – SPOTLIGHT
August 7 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
August 8 – Romance Novel Giveaways – AUTHOR GUEST POST
August 9 – Carla Loves to Read – REVIEW, INDIVIDUAL GIVEAWAY
August 10 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT
August 11 – Books1987 – SPOTLIGHT
August 12 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – REVIEW
Excerpt
Avery Taylor clutched her sleeping daughter tighter, her fight-or-flight instincts begging her to do anything other than stand there, frozen, staring down the two masked gunmen blocking her from entering her home. “Please, I…”
But what could she say? Had she stumbled upon a home invasion? She couldn’t imagine having anything either of them could possibly want. She lived off the beaten path. The small but cozy two-story bungalow she’d inherited from her grandfather sat alone on a cul-de-sac at the end of a long, winding mountain road. And she worked from home as a medical transcriptionist, supplementing her income with her inheritance to make ends meet. Well, whatever they wanted, they could have it, as long as they left her and her four-year-old, Liliana, alone. She opened her mouth to say as much.
The taller of the two lifted his weapon, his hand rock steady.
She could only assume he’d done this before.
“Where’s Tristan McAvoy?” he demanded.
Her mouth snapped right back closed again. Once she recovered enough to try to answer, her voice shook before she could utter more than a grunt, and she worked to steady it. Although she didn’t know why she bothered. It was clear she was terrified, and even more so now that she knew what they wanted…because she couldn’t give it to them. “I don’t know where Tristan is. I haven’t seen him in almost five years.”
Since he’d walked out on her and never looked back, despite her numerous attempts to get in touch with him and tell him he was going to be a father. He’d been her best friend, her love, her future, and then he’d been gone.
Her arms began to tremble beneath Liliana’s weight, and Avery hefted her up higher so the little girl’s head rested more comfortably on her shoulder. The last thing she needed was Lily waking to this mess. They’d attended a church festival that evening, and her daughter had passed out on the way home. It was a good thing Lily was a heavy sleeper.
The shorter man, who outweighed her by a good hundred pounds of pure muscle, gestured toward the front door with his weapon. “Get inside.”
She hesitated.
“Look, Avery…”
The fact that he knew her name and had associated her with Tristan sent a chill racing up her spine, despite the heat of the summer night. If they knew all that, she had to figure they knew Lily was Tristan’s daughter as well, even if Tristan didn’t know. But how had they found out? True, she’d listed him as Lily’s father on her birth certificate, but why would this stranger have access to that?
“All you have to do is tell us where to find McAvoy.” The man’s easy shrug belied the tension in his posture. “Once we have him, we’ll let you and his kid go. Easy enough?”
It would be if she believed him, and if she had any clue where to find Tristan, but she wasn’t buying it. Then again, they did have on ski masks, which gave her some hope that they planned to let her go. If not, they’d have no reason to conceal their identities. Of course, she couldn’t give them what they wanted. If she knew how to get ahold of Tristan, he’d know about his daughter.
An image of him flashed in her mind—his shaggy brown hair that just brushed his collar and always seemed in need of a trim, a smile that could melt her heart in an instant, his brilliant blue eyes that used to cage hers and fill her with hope for their future together. A hope that died when he walked away with promises to return once he’d gotten his head on straight. An empty promise, as it turned out.
She’d wanted to talk to him after he’d left, to tell him he was going to be a dad instead of imparting the news via voicemail, email or text. She’d wanted to gauge his reaction, so she’d simply asked him to call her back. Time and time again. And he hadn’t. Not once. So, he’d never learned about his daughter. But that wasn’t really fair. He’d left after his parents had been murdered, bitter and grief-stricken and so filled with anger she hadn’t known what to do for him. Still, he could have answered at least one of her messages.
Focus, Avery.
She weighed her options. She could make a run for the car, where she’d left the doors standing open and her bags inside in hopes of retrieving them after she’d gotten Lily into bed, but she’d never outrun a bullet if these men intended to shoot her. Then again, they couldn’t get information from her if she was dead. But they could incapacitate her. How could she risk leaving Liliana alone with these monsters? She couldn’t. Which left her no choice but to do as they’d instructed.
Lily’s weight was becoming a strain on her back and shoulders, and she didn’t want to set her down on the stone walkway and risk waking her. But she did have to put her down. If it came down to it, she couldn’t fight with Liliana in her arms. What did it matter if she went inside with them anyway? It wasn’t like there was any chance of someone driving past to notice what was happening or being close enough to hear her screams. The secluded home she’d grown up in, that she’d always viewed as so peaceful and serene, a safe haven tucked against the side of the mountain, surrounded by fields and wildflowers, now seemed nothing but isolated. She’d never felt so frightened and alone, even after Tristan had left and her grandfather had passed away.
But if she could get inside, if she could get to her grandfather’s hunting rifle hanging above the mantel, maybe she’d stand a chance of defending herself and her daughter.
Have you signed up to be a Tour Host? Click Here to Find Details and Sign Up Today! Want to Book a Tour? Click Here
Many thanks to Deena Alexander for sharing Avery Taylor’s story with us today. If this character guest post has you wondering what happens next, be sure to add Seeking the Kidnapped Child to your TBR. While you’re here, I also invite you to browse the rest of the blog for more author spotlights, interviews, guest posts, and cozy mystery fun.
As always, thanks for stopping by for some Salty Inspirations! —Michelle❤️
Thank you so much for having me and for sharing the release of Seeking the Kidnapped Child!