Monday 29 July 2013

Alex POV from The Light in the Wound by Christine Brae


Alex POV, Chapter Twenty One
UNEDITED

“God damn it!” My hands pound on the steering wheel as I weave in and out of traffic. I stop myself right before the last syllable and my lips curve into a slight smile. She’d be glaring at me by now before reaching out to swat me playfully. My thoughts of her are interrupted by the ringing of my phone.

“Alex.”

“Hey, it’s me. Are you almost there yet?” It’s her best friend Betty. Well, I’d like to think, her other best friend, Betty.

“Not yet, I’m stuck in fucking traffic. But I should be there in less than an hour.”

“Okay. I didn’t tell her you were coming to get her. She’s going to argue against it and I just can’t deal with it right now.” Her voice fades in and out. She’s driving home from a convention with Leigh.

“Got it. Don’t worry, I’ll be there soon,” I say, as I turn into a side street hoping for a short cut. “How is she? Is she upset?”

“No, she’s actually the opposite that’s why I’m worried. A calm Isa means a bottled up Isa. And you know how she gets when she internalizes stuff. Take care of her, okay? Just make sure she gets home safe and sound and I’ll call her in the morning.”

“Yes, boss.” I say as I hang up the phone. What I really want to say is that I would make it my life’s commitment to take care of her if I could.

I finally make it in a little over an hour and jump out of my car, leaving the keys in the ignition. I know the guys at this bar. This has been THE bar for many, many years. For some reason, I don’t see her at first. She’s tucked away at the end of the bar, right where the counter meets the wall. There’s a guy sitting right next to her and you can tell from his body language that he’s putting the full moves on her. His left arm is now on the back of her bar stool and their shoulders are touching. I see her only because she throws her head back in that giggle of hers that drives me crazy.

Three steps later, I’m right by her side. “Dude, she’s with me.” I recognize the guy from the International School I attended. Another jock. Football, this time. He ignores me at first until she jumps up, excited to see me. My God. She is beautiful. She’s wearing this dress that’s way too short and her endless legs stop at another sexy pair of four inch heels. All that running that she does is so worth it.

She trips and falls right into me. Her arms wrap around my neck and I hold her close. Too close. I’ve held her before but this time it’s different. Her full weight is upon me and I press on to her even more. I think I’ve crossed the friend line. No. I’m sure I have. But I don’t care. I caress her back as she nuzzles into my chest and asks me to take her home. I half-carry her into the car and as I strap her into the front seat, she looks at me with those soulful doe eyes and asks me why I always save her. Because I love you, I want to say. And this is what people who are head over heels in love do.

She’s a chatterbox in the car on the way to her house. I try not to say a word, hoping she’ll open up about her latest discovery and tell me how she’s feeling. The sweet sound of her voice fills the silence and I finally have to laugh when she asks me when my last oil change was. We arrive at the house and I hand her off to Mellie. I kiss her forehead before sending her off upstairs. For a while, I remain in the dark entranceway unsure of myself. I should probably leave so she can sleep this off. Before I decide what to do, Mellie is back downstairs.

“She’s asking for you, sir Alex,” she whispers as she shuts off the hallway lights and bolts up the front door.

“Thank you, Mellie. Don’t worry about the front door. I’ll lock up when I leave.”

I run up the stairs hoping to catch her while she’s still awake. She’s sitting up against the headboard, tucked under her blanket, her smiling eyes half closed, her voice croaky and tired. She pats the space next to her and asks me to stay until tomorrow. I want to. She’s wearing mismatched pajama tops and bottoms. It’s just so her - always making a fashion statement even when she goes to bed. The top she wears is a button down and as she leans over to prop some pillows up on my side for me, I see that she has freckles on her chest. I want to kiss them so badly, feel every single raised bump on her flawless skin with my lips. Why am I so nervous? It’s not like I haven’t done this before. In fact, I’ve been doing this for so long. Meet a girl, take her home, stay over for the night.

And yet, here I am. Pitifully grateful for the chance to hold her close. Ecstatic to have gotten a glimpse of her secret freckles.

Maybe it’s because she can never be mine.

“Night, Alex. This is why I don’t drink. It makes me so tired,” she says as she lays her head on my chest. I wrap my right arm around her and feel her chest rise up and down against me. Her hand is gently tracing circles on my torso and I’m closing my eyes, accepting every touch. I am ruined. From this moment on, the slate in my brain is wiped clean and I have no memory of any other woman in my life except her.





Thursday 25 July 2013

Winners from 1000 Facebook Likes Giveaway!!

WINNERS!!!! 



1. Cheryl Heinsohn - Give Me Love Ebook
2. Laura Mendez - Unbeautifully Loved Ebook 
3. Dawn DeShazo Goehring - Watch Over Me Ebook
4. Jennifer Vanni - Envisioned Ebook
5. Meghan Mack - I Love You to Death Ebook
6. Shelly Ford - Sweet Thing Ebook
7. Jessica Lynn - Branded ARC
8. Valerie Rhodes - Wreck Me Ebook
9. Yvonne Cervera - Set of Ebooks There is No Light in Darkness and Darkness Before Dawn
10. Joanne Cowan - Forgotten Ones Ebook
11. Donna Vitale Montville - Left Drowning Kindle Ebook
12. Cezanne Dilbert - Set of Ebooks Arouse and Allure
13. Heather Heath Mitchell - Signed Paperback Set  of Relentless and Pieces of You (INTL)
14. Heidi Bailey - Signed Paperback Set  of There is No Light in Darkness and Darkness Before Dawn (US/Canada)
15. Peggy Warren - Signed Paperback of A Life More Complete (INTL)
16. Kathy Wheeler - Signed Paperback of Dark Prince (US/Canada)
17. Tiffanie Jones - Signed Paperback of Unbeautifully Loved (US/Canada)
18. Jo Coppin - Signed Paperback of Promise Me Darkness (US/Canada)
19. Sara Long Butler - Signed Paperback of Plastic Hearts and Glass Hearts (US/Canada)

All winners above email me within 48 hours with your email (if won ebook(s)) or mailing address (if won paperback(s)) to devouredwords@live.com in the subject line indicate you are the winner of ... 

*Update if you won an ebook please let me know if you want Kindle or Nook (Left Drowning can only be given a Kindle ebook - Since its an Amazon Imprint)*

Thank you all for supporting Devoured Words. Thank YOU all authors who have donated in this giveaway and for your support! I love you ALL!!! 

So sorry for the long wait!!! 

xo, 
Trisha

Wednesday 24 July 2013

Cover Reveal: Stubborn Love by Natalie Ward


Synopsis

Five years ago, tragedy brought Jared and Mia together. A tragedy that was the start of an unlikely source of support, a true friendship and eventually, deep, heart-stopping love. Until the day something pushed them apart, forcing one of them to let the other one go.

Now, over the course of a day and a night, Jared and Mia will finally talk about how it all went wrong. How something which seemed so perfect and true, was so easily broken. And just when they think they’ve found their way back to each other, their love, will once more be put to the ultimate test.

Sometimes, you never realise how much you can hurt the one you love.
Sometimes, you never realise the lengths you’ll go to, to help someone you love.
And sometimes, you never realise just how stubborn love can be.
Because it’s impossible to let somebody go, when you never stopped loving them in the first place.

Add to your TBR list!!!

Release Date: September 2013

This is the companion novel to I Love You to Death, if you want to add the sequel to your TBR list, do so here: 


I loved I Love You to Death and anything Natalie writes will hit my TBR list and be near the top MUST Read ;) 


Cover Reveal: The Edge of Darkness by Melissa Andrea


Synopsis

Araya Noelle.
I used to dance. I loved to dance, but I don’t anymore. I was in an accident I don’t remember…or maybe I don’t want to remember. Either way, every day since, has been…an adjustment and I’m left with a constant reminder that nothing is forever. Now, my life is a tangled web of darkness filled with deceit, hate, betrayal and lies. I don’t dwell on the past, I don’t regret and I don’t remember. I thought I was surviving – but then I met Ryland Dare and he changed everything. He reminded me that life’s worth living and that remembering isn’t always a bad thing.

You don’t know true darkness until you've felt light…

Ryland Dare.
On the outside looking in, some would say my siblings and I have had a pretty easy life. But beyond the fancy cars, the huge house and endless social events, is where the truth really lies. Power hungry father, defeated mother and fake friends? Yeah I have one of each. It’s not as depressing as it sounds. My brat of a sister, crazy ass brother and sweeter than sweet Annie, keep me entertained. Then Araya Noelle comes along and shows me what I’ve been missing. She thinks I changed her life, but really, she saved mine.

At the edge of darkness, a ray of light, will dare them to HOPE. DARE them to LOVE. DARE them to LIVE.


Excerpt

 “I’m afraid I’m going to have this hanging on my conscious all day now.” he teased.
“That only seems fair.”
“Yes it does, but I have a better suggestion.” his voice slid over my skin like silk.
“Better for whom?”
“Go out with me.”
His proposal stunned me for a second and then I found my voice.
“So better for you?”
“I like to think of it as a mutual enjoyment.”
“I fail to see how.”
He shifted, and his breath hit my face in warm puffs. “Go out with me and I’ll show you.”


Buy here 



 Meet Melissa

I find it hard to sum up my life in a paragraph, but I’ll try.

I am the author of Flutter, The Discover Series! Reading has always been a passion for me, and writing as instinctive as breathing. Every inhale is an idea; every exhale a creation.  The only thing I do better than writing you ask? Making beautiful girls. My daughter’s will always be my greatest accomplishment.

I was born in Denver, Colorado–but I will always think of sunny Arizona as my home. I don’t have a big family, but I’m close with my sister, brother & my mom. My mom is my hero, my inspiration, and I couldn’t have asked for a more amazing person to be raised by.

4 things you should know about me: I’m very girly, but I can get down and dirty with the best of them. I adore the color pink and things that sparkle (including vampires), I am a firm believer that chocolate cures ALL and I like even numbers (hence 4 things about me, not 5) Okay, maybe I cheated a little with my list, shhhh.






Monday 22 July 2013

Cover Reveal: When it Rains by Lisa De Jong



Synopsis

One night changed my life forever.

Beau Bennett has been my best friend since I can remember. He was my first crush before everything came crashing down, and now he wants more, but it's more than I can give him. Things are different now. I wish I could tell him why, but I can't.

I haven’t told anyone.

I never knew how much I really needed him until the day he left for college, and I was completely alone.

Then one day, Asher Hunt rides into town with his dark, captivating eyes and cocky grin. He doesn't care who I used to be, he's simply breathing life into what’s left. People warn me to stay away from him, but he helps me forget the pain that has held me hostage for so long; something I thought was impossible before he walked into my life.

I’ve been hurt.

I’ve been saved.

And I’ve found hope.

I thought my story was written that night, but now I know it was only a new beginning. Until one secret turns my world upside down…

Again.


Release Date: September 21, 2013

Teaser 

When you live in small town, there’s not much to do on a fall Friday night after a football game.  When the season started this year, some of the upperclassman at my high school decided that we should all have a bonfire after each game. It was really an excuse to drink and hook-up: two things I wasn’t interested in but I always went to hang out with my friends anyway.
            That’s where I was that night. 
            The night I retreated into darkness, where the night sky had no stars, the day had no sun, and all hope was drained from my body.
            The night my life ended.
            And Beau Bennett wasn’t there.  If he had been, he would’ve saved me, just like he always does.  He was grounded that night for staying out past curfew the Friday before; in fact, it’s the only weekend I remember Beau ever being grounded. 
Life is a series of coincidences and that night, coincidence screwed me over.
The most important thing I lost was my entire sense of self.  It took seventeen years to build my foundation and it took mere minutes to tear it down. 
I hate him.
The old Kate’s gone...and she’s never coming back.
And I’ll always hate when it rains.




Meet Lisa



Lisa De Jong is a wife, mother and full-time number cruncher who lives in the Midwest. Her writing journey involved insane amounts of coffee and many nights of very little sleep but she wouldn't change a thing. She also enjoys reading, football and music.