Love and Other Disasters Scandalous Brides Book 3 by Heather Boyd Release Blitz! #NewRelease #Historical #HistoricalRomance #Regency #RegencyRomance #Romance

Their disdain for each other is strong…but not nearly so much as their unexpected passion. 

Love and Other Disasters

Scandalous Brides Book 3

by Heather Boyd

Genre: Historical Regency Romance 

Lord Jasper Sweet, the often overlooked third son of a duke, is used to disappointment, and learned to rely on no one but himself. Forced to endure a summer at his family's estate, he’s planning a little party to pass the time and refill his empty pockets. But his nephew’s and their prickly governess, Sophie Radcliffe, remain at the estate too, and he’s expecting vast disapproval. He never imagined he’d need the governess’ help—and not just because someone left an infant screaming on his bed.

Sophie prefers to keep a distance from her employer’s rakish brother because it’s clear he doesn’t like her. But with one glimpse of the shoddy way he’s running his secret, scandalous house party—and the child screaming on his bed—it’s clear he needs her expertise for both. Sophie never meant to trust another rake with her reputation or the secrets of her past, but Jasper has snuck under her defenses and could steal her heart—if he ever saw her as more than a means to a scandalous end.

Love and Other Disasters is a steamy regency romance novel

Amazon * Apple * B&N * Google * Kobo * Smashwords * AuthorsSite * Bookbub * Goodreads

Don't miss the other books in the series! 

Wicked With Him

Scandalous Brides Book 1

Get it HERE!

Desperately Seeking Seduction

Scandalous Brides Book 2

Get it HERE!

USA Today Bestselling Author Heather Boyd believes every character she creates deserves their own happily-ever-after—no matter how much trouble she puts them through. With that goal in mind, she writes steamy romances that skirt the boundaries of propriety to keep readers enthralled until the wee hours of the morning.

Heather has published over fifty regency romance novels and shorter works full of daring seductions and distinguished rogues. She lives north of Sydney, Australia, with her trio of rogues and a fluffy four-legged overlord.

Website * Facebook * Threads * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

Follow the blitz HERE for special content and a giveaway!

$10 Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One of the Boys by Jayne Cowie Book Tour!

 

If you could test your son for a gene that predicts violence, would you do it? From the author of Curfew comes a suspenseful, heart-wrenching novel about the consequences of your answer.

Antonia and Bea are sisters, and doting mothers to their sons. But that is where their similarities end.

Antonia had her son tested to make sure he didn’t possess the "violent" M gene.

Bea refuses to let her son take the test. She believes his life should not be determined by a positive or negative result.

These women will go to any length to protect their sons.

But one of them is hiding a monster. And there will be fatal consequences for everybody....

 

 

An avid reader and lifelong writer, Jayne Cowie also enjoys digging in her garden and making an excellent devil’s food cake. She lives near London with her family. You can find her on Instagram as @CowieJayne.

 

ONE OF THE BOYS

Bea glanced at her phone, saw the ten percent charge remaining, and reluctantly called Antonia. She kept it short. Yes, everything was fine. A boy. Nine pounds. Yes, that was big. She was tired. She had to go. Yes, she would send a picture. (She didn't.)

Bea was more surprised than she should have been when, half an hour later, her brother-in-law tweaked back the curtain and stuck his head round. "Mind if I come in?"

That was Owen, always perfectly polite. He smiled at Bea, nodded at Alfie. Bea had finally managed to get Alfie to sit down, but he hadn't taken his coat off, and there was a smear of yellow mustard on his chin. When she looked at Owen in his shirt and tie and white doctor's coat, she felt a pang of shame.

"I heard you had a rough time," he said as he stood next to the plastic box that they called a cot and looked down at her son, who was asleep, still in his Mother Teresa getup. One hand had managed to escape, and he was sucking his thumb, tiny fingers splayed across his face like a starfish.

"Do you mind if I . . ." Owen began, but he was already unwrapping the baby, so she didn't bother to answer. What was the point? She watched as Owen examined him, touching his hands, his feet, his round little tummy with the blue stump of his surprisingly juicy umbilical cord in the middle of it, and she gritted her teeth as her son howled out his disapproval. Her gaze flicked to Alfie, and she realized that he, too, was watching. She wondered how he felt, seeing the ease with which Owen touched his son when he'd been too afraid to even pick him up.

"He seems healthy enough," Owen said, wrapping him back up again. "You were lucky that nothing went wrong. Giving birth alone can be very dangerous."

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

"At least you were in the right place," Owen said, continuing as if she hadn't said anything. "Quite the drama. It's all anyone downstairs can talk about."

He stroked the baby's cheek and then, finally, he turned his attention to Bea. Her bed was next to the window, and the light outside was fading. What remained bathed Owen in soft shadow. Bea pulled the sheet up to her chin, a shield against him. All of a sudden, she felt very vulnerable and leaky and sore and afraid. Everyone knew in theory that you were allowed to tell a doctor you didn't want them to touch you, but to actually do it was something else entirely. She didn't want Owen to touch her, especially not in front of Alfie. She didn't want him to put her in the position of having to stop him.

"Congratulations," he said. "He's a lovely little boy. Have you got a name for him yet?"

"Simon," Alfie said. "After my dad."

Bea looked at Alfie in disbelief. That hadn't been on their list. He'd never even mentioned wanting to use it. And anyway, shouldn't it be her decision, given that she was the one who'd done all the work? She opened her mouth to reply, but Owen got in there first.

He looked at Bea. "Are you going to have him tested?"

"Tested for what?" Alfie replied, although Bea knew that the question had been directed at her.

"For the M gene. It's simple, completely painless."

"I don't know," Alfie said, turning to Bea, looking for the answer.

Bea ignored him. "Why?" she asked Owen.

"Why what?"

"Why should I have him tested?"

"It's important to know what you're dealing with," Owen said.

"I'm dealing with a baby," Bea said, and she turned her face to the window, away from Owen, away from Alfie, away from her son. She hadn't had any of the other tests while she was pregnant, and she had no intention of having this one. She didn't understand why anyone did. The idea that you would want to classify a baby as right or wrong, good or bad, perfect or imperfect, was abhorrent to her. As far as she was concerned, you got what you were given and you made the best of it.

---

Excerpted from One of the Boys by Jayne Cowie Copyright © 2023 by Jayne Cowie. Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

The Carolina Variant by Brooke L. French Book Tour!

July 11, 2023 Book Blast

Tess Oliver’s memory is a killer.

When the lead that could save her law practice is destroyed in a suspicious fire, only her recollection of it remains. Tess can relive memories, but her gift comes at a cost. The last time she used it, she nearly died.

This time, she only takes a peek. A single moment spent in her memory of the defendant’s encoded document gives her a brutal migraine and a phone number.

Luke Broussard answers her call from the wreckage of his downed plane. His charter passenger is dead. And a mutated virus seeps from the man’s broken cargo, making Luke an unknowing carrier. When rescuers take Luke to an Atlanta hospital, the virus comes with him.

Tess follows her lead to Luke’s bedside, where she finds an instant connection. As they try to outrun a psychopath who’ll stop at nothing to retrieve the document, the city falls apart around them. The code hidden in Tess’s mind may be the only thing that can keep the outbreak contained, but using her gift to decipher it could kill her. If the virus — or whoever engineered it — doesn’t get to her first.

Praise for The Carolina Variant:

"Filled with compelling characters fighting not only for their lives, but humanity itself, you won’t be able to put it down."
~ Jeffrey Jay Levin, author of Watching, Volume 1, The Garden Museum Heist

"The Carolina Variant is a taut thriller that terrifies with a too damned frightenedly plausible story about what happens when a deadly virus escapes. It’s the kind of book that makes you afraid to turn the page, but you will. You definitely will."
~ Christopher Amato, author of Shadow Investigation and A Letter from Sicily

"What a ride! The Carolina Variant is Blake Crouch’s Upgrade with the pacing of Fox’s 24."
~ Cam Torrens, author of STABLE

Book Details:

Genre: Thriller, Medical and Conspiracy
Published by: Black Rose Writing
Publication Date: June 2023
Number of Pages: 347
ISBN: 9781685132187 (ISBN10: 1685132189)
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

Prologue:

September 13, 2018

The girl on the video monitor stared up at the ceiling as blood trickled from her eyes and nose. Her only movement an occasional spasm of coughing.

Nothing unexpected, given the progression of the disease.

Dr. Edmund Haley shut off the overhead fluorescent lights and let himself adjust to the dim glow of the screens lining the back wall of the office. Only the girl’s monitor still played a live feed, but it lit the room well enough.

And, either way, darkness suited him fine.

He’d spent so much time stuck in this tiny godforsaken place, he could’ve found the desk and computer with his eyes closed. Haley dropped into a chair and adjusted his glasses, trying to ignore the sharp tang of antimicrobial soap that clung to his hands. It smelled like life in the hospital. Like the servitude of medical practice.

He hated it as much now as he had before he’d lost his license. But at least this time, he’d be well paid for his efforts. And soon, it would be over. He refocused on the girl’s image. The only question was when.

Light sliced into the room behind him as Margaret bumbled inside. He made no move to acknowledge the nurse, even as she pulled up a chair beside his. As idiotic as she otherwise seemed to be, she’d know by now not to bother him. He shifted his attention from the video monitor to the computer, where he pulled up the patient’s chart.

Patient: Octavia MILLS, 18 yo, Af-Am, F, #4
Vitals: 5’5”, 110 lb.
updated (9-10) 108.8 lb.
updated (9-11) 106 lb.
updated (9-12) 104.1 lb.
Provider Notes: Click to open

He scrolled to the section for his notes and, after a click of the mouse, entered the details of that day’s exam. “9-13-18; Liver and kidney function both continue to decline. Discrete purpuric patches expanding from face and trunk now merging. BSA involvement approximately 80%. Note third spacing.”

The third spacing, a condition where the skin separated from the tissue beneath and filled with blood, was something new. Margaret’s report of it had been the primary reason he’d put himself through the nightmare of protective gear and protocol it’d taken to do a physical exam himself. He wasn’t going to let it be said that he hadn’t been thorough.

Haley glanced back up at the monitor in time to see a bubble of blood form between Octavia’s lips. The thing grew with each shallow breath. When it reached the size of a small orange, it burst, splattering more droplets of blood onto her face and neck.

Octavia made no move to wipe them away. He’d given her enough morphine. She would be long past caring. And, more importantly, the extra dosage meant she’d finally quit staring out at him with that awful, confused look on her face.

He didn’t care. Not really. Except that it had been distracting, and he needed to focus. Needed to understand why was she still alive. What had he missed? Perhaps another round of blood work would—

The blare of an alarm sounded over the video feed and, more faintly, from the hall. Three more followed.

Octavia’s body spasmed, convulsing again and again as she vomited up a grainy black-red mix of blood and tissue. The progression was as repulsive as it was now familiar. The vomit mixed with the brighter red flowing from her eyes and nose as the virus moved into its final stage. Blood, still unable to clot, flowed until it covered her face and chest. Until the bedsheets were saturated and no longer white.

Octavia’s muscles tensed, seizing all at once before releasing. Her body too gruesome to look peaceful, even as she finally came to rest.

Neither he nor Margaret moved from their chairs.

The alarms echoed unanswered down the empty hall. Haley clicked off the monitor and most of the noise with it. “That’s better.”

God knew it had taken long enough. He turned back to the computer, closed Octavia’s chart, and opened another document saved to the desktop as “Subject Outcomes.” He scrolled down, missing Octavia’s name the first time, then tapped the cursor back up until he found it. She’d been number four of twenty-five subjects, and hers was the last empty field in the column marked TPOI for Total Period of Infection. From the time she had been exposed, it had taken four days for the disease to take its course. At least a full day longer than any other subject.

“About fucking time.” He spoke under his breath as he typed the final entry in with one finger. He still didn’t know why the girl had survived so long, but it was no matter. By any measure, his work there had been an overwhelming success. Haley pulled off his glasses and tapped them against Margaret’s shoulder. “Get me a copy of the subject files, including all of the relevant video footage.”

Margaret flinched away from him. “Yes, doctor.” She pulled a thumb drive from a desk drawer and plugged it into the video system. The system — which had been his idea — had not only allowed them to observe the patients from a safe distance but also recorded the progress of the disease in each subject.

Having such an accurate, time-stamped record of their experiments would be invaluable to his employer. As he had been. Haley cleaned the lenses of his glasses with the edge of his lab coat. Knowing what was coming, it didn’t hurt to have insurance. Which was why he had contingency plans stashed in safe deposit boxes across the city. It was a point he would be sure to make when he and his employer spoke.

No matter what, he wouldn’t end up like the others.

He pointed to Margaret as she collected the files. “Once you’re done, wipe the system clean.”

She looked at him, her eyes a question. What happens now?

He didn’t bother responding. Some part of her had to know already.

Stupid.

The kind of people who would hire her to do what she’d done weren’t the type to assume money would be enough to keep her quiet. She was a loose end who — unlike him — had no continuing value. Not that what happened to her mattered. And if she hadn’t been smart enough to see that going in… Well, she’d as much as made her bed, hadn’t she?

He put a layer of steel in his voice. “Do it.”

Margaret’s gaze flicked away. She pressed a few buttons on the keyboard and waited for the computer to comply, removed the thumb drive, and dropped it into his waiting hand.

He turned the small device over in his palm. Amazing that so many lives could be held in such a small device. But then, these lives weren’t the kind anyone cared about. Nobodies and throw-aways. The kind of people who would volunteer for a drug trial for pennies and not be missed when they didn’t come back. He’d done the world a service, really.

Haley slipped the thumb drive into a padded envelope, scrawled the address he had memorized at the outset of the project on the front, checked twice to make sure he’d stuck on enough postage, then slid the envelope into his briefcase.

“Take care of that, won’t you?” He tilted his head toward the hallway leading to the patient rooms, where the girl’s body lay waiting.

Margaret didn’t look up from the computer. “Of course, sir. Same as with the others.”

Haley tucked the briefcase under his arm, whistling as he left the facility for the last time. With his part done, the rest could finally could begin.

***

Excerpt from The Carolina Variant by Brooke L. French. Copyright 2023 by Brooke L. French. Reproduced with permission from Brooke L. French. All rights reserved.

Brooke L. French is a recovering lawyer turned author. Her debut novel, Inhuman Acts, came out in 2022, and her second thriller, The Carolina Variant, came out on June, 22 2023. Brooke lives between Atlanta and Carmel, California with her husband and sons.

Catch Up With Brooke L. French:
BrookeLFrench.com
Goodreads
BookBub - @brookelfrench
Instagram - @brookelewisfrench
Facebook - @brooke.l.french

Tour Participants:

Don't miss out! Visit these other hosts for more great features!

 

 

ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN:

This is a giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Tours for Brooke L. French. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.

 

Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Tours

 

A Broken Man (Appalachian Star, #3) by Deanndra Hall Release Blitz!

Title: A Broken Man (Appalachian Star, #3) 

Author: Deanndra Hall 

Genre: Romantic Suspense 

Release Date: July 11, 2023 

Hosted by: Buoni Amici Press, LLC.

Can they recover from crashing and burning?

GHOST

Resurrection

It's been a tough road, but I'm tougher. There's nothing that can break me; I'm already broken. After serving time for ending the dirtbag who killed my daughter, I'm ready to get my life back. Signing on as a MEDEVAC pilot with the team of Iron Oak Farms is exactly what I need. And the last thing I need is something or someone serious or permanent. Before my life went to crap, I used to be a highly regarded nurse. It's time to start taking care of myself—and others.

IZZY

Resurrection

After my husband died during duty, I never thought I'd breathe again. As a military pilot, I know I have courage and strength, but sometimes, it's all too much. Meeting Ghost changes everything. He makes me feel alive and desirable again. However, I refuse to be someone's pastime. He's just looking for fun. Leaving him is one of the hardest things I've ever done. But when our enemies find me and my life is on the line, my only hope is in Ghost.

AMAZON

 

Deanndra Hall is a working author living in the far western end of the beautiful Bluegrass State with her husband of over 35 years and small menagerie of weird little dogs. When she’s not writing, she’s editing. When she’s doing neither of those two things, she’s having dinner with friends, spending time with family, kayaking, eating chocolate, drinking beer or moonshine, or looking for something that she put in the wrong place and can’t seem to find (which is pretty much everything she owns).

Amazon | BookBub

AMAZON

AMAZON

The Forger of Marseille by Linda Joy Myers Book Review!

It’s 1939, and all across Europe the Nazis are coming for Jews and anti-fascists. The only way to avoid being imprisoned or murdered is to assume a new identity. For that, people are desperate for papers. And for that, the underground needs forgers.

In Paris, Sarah, a young Jewish artist originally from Berlin, along with her music teacher and father figure, Mr. Lieb, meet Cesar, a Spanish Republican who knows well the brutality of fleeing fascism. He soon recognizes Sarah’s gift. She will become the underground’s new forger.

When the war reaches Paris, the trio joins thousands of other refugees in a chaotic exodus south. In Marseille, they’re received by friends, but they’re also now part of a resistance the government is actively hunting.  Sarah, now Simone, continues her forgery work in the shadows, expertly creating false papers that will mean the difference between life and a horrifying death for many. When Mr. Lieb is arrested and imprisoned in Les Milles internment camp, Simone, Cesar, and their friends vow to rescue him, enlisting the help of American journalist Varian Fry, known for plotting the escapes of high- profile people like Andre Breton and Marc Chagall. In this enlightening and thrilling story of war, love, and courage, author Linda Joy Myers explores identity, ingenuity, and the power of art to save lives.

Linda Joy Myers has always been deliciously haunted by the power of the past to affect people in the stream of time. She has integrated her passion for history and her own struggles with intergenerational trauma into her work as a therapist and writer. The power of the truth to educate current generations about the past led Linda Joy to explore the little known history of WWII in the weeks following the fall of France. 

Her new book is inspired by the daunting courage of ordinary people who worked together to save the lives of thousands of refugees, British soldiers, and other lost souls during the cruel and chaotic outbreak of the war in France. She is the author of two memoirs Don’t Call Me Mother and Song of the Plains and four books on memoir writing. She’s also the founder of the National Association of Memoir Writers. You can learn more about Linda Joy’s work at www.namw.org and www.lindajoymyersauthor.com.

My Thoughts

1939, Sarah, who changes her name to Simone, and her father figure and mentor Mr. Lieb who also has changed his name to Mathieu. They are both Jewish and the times are not favorable to Jews. They meet up with Cesar and the three of them make their trek to Paris. There Simone wishes to attend art school. In Paris Cesar works as a doctor, of which he is, to do what he can to help the injured to heal so that they can escape to freedom.

Along the way, they meet other people who belong to the Resistance. Simone, Mathiew, and Cesar want to help to do what they can to help other people who want to leave Paris. They end up in Marseille and Simone uses her skills to become a forger, passports, birth certificates, and other papers that enable the people to leave France as it is no longer a safe haven but a dangerous place to be if you are Jewish.

The reader is introduced to a myriad of people, all working for the cause and some on the other side, the enemy. Mathieu is captured and sent to a concentration camp. Simone and Cesar believe that Mathieu will not make it there so they make it their mission to rescue him. 

I have read quite a few WWII books and each one is sad in its own way, the narrow escapes by the characters really bring into focus how difficult life during the war was and the extraordinary lengths that the heroes of the story will go to 'slap the faces of the Nazi's'. Goodness always outweighs evil.

I really enjoyed the book, another aspect of the war is told with impeccable research. I give the book 5 stars! 

I received a copy of the book for review purposes only.

Secrets of the Monument by Arlean Pearson Blog Tour!

 

Secrets of the Monument

– In this intriguing dual-time story, two very different love stories prevail -

2015

Verity and Jeremy are idyllically happy in their new home, a country cottage at the foot of an old Greek temple on a green hill. He has promised her there will be no more surprises – until his chaotic music producer nephew turns up to stay and causes havoc.

1946

Amelia and Ed

Torn apart in distressing circumstances, is the romance between the daughter of the Lord of the Manor and the son of a pitman over before it ever really began?

When Verity’s Grandad Ed asks her to find his first love after sixty-seven years, to reveal a life changing secret, she embarks upon a journey which takes her to different shores. When worlds which are generations apart collide, will the mystery of the monument be revealed? Also, will Verity finally be able to shake off the turbulence of her own past and find a deeper love and understanding wins the day?

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secrets-Monument-Arlene-Pearson-ebook/dp/B0BYBD39ZQ

Arlene Pearson lives with her family and a crazy cockatiel in in a small North East village and is a writer of blogs and fiction.  She began writing seriously after graduating from Northumbria University with a Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing, initially writing articles for local publications.  She was a Readers Champion Columnist for a Sunday newspaper for many years, also writing an on-line blog entitled Two Point Four Children/Teenagers.  Arlene has also written a novella which can be found on the Cutalongstory Writers Community Website and has self-published four books on Amazon including a full-length novel entitled Where the Four Streams Meet. 

• Twitter    @pearson_arlene -    Arlene Pearson (@pearson_arlene) / Twitter

• Facebook   Arlene Pearson - Arlene Pearson | Facebook

• Linkedin     Arlene Pearson – Arlene Pearson | LinkedIn

Shattered Dreams Abbie Roads Blog Tour!

 

Shattered Dreams
Abbie Roads

(Beautiful Nightmare, #3)
Publication date: July 11th 2023
Genres: Adult, Dark Romance, Romance

A crooked cop. Corruption. A woman convicted of murder. A man determined to prove her innocence.

When Helena Grayse is released from prison, all she wants is to say a final goodbye to her old life. But when a man finds her trespassing on his property, instead of turning her in, he takes her in. Accepts her. Loves her.

But someone decides to serve Helena with a death sentence.

Shattered Dreams is the third book in Abbie Roads’ Beautiful Nightmare Series of dark romantic thrillers. It features a felon heroine who never thought she deserved love. If you devour true crime and romance novels then you’ll love a series that combines both in a roller-coaster ride of danger, mind games, and swoon worthy love.

Buy this dangerously dark romance today!

Trigger warning: Depictions of SA and violence.

Previously Published under the title Never Let Me Fall.

Add to Goodreads / Pre-order

Excerpt!

Thomas burst through the back door on a dead run. Each footfall a jackhammer of sound. Stealth didn’t matter as much as getting to Helen.

He didn’t remember running through the house and up the stairs, but suddenly, he burst into the bathroom she’d been using. He skidded to a halt. Helen lay in the bathtub, curled on her side. Water rained over her nakedness. She wasn’t moving. Didn’t seem to be breathing. A garish river of scarlet gushed from the massive wound in her chest, pooling as it waited to slip down the drain.

Her face was an abominable shade of blue and gray and devoid of life. Water rained over her, swirling the blood leaking from her chest in mesmerizing streams. The wound was massive. Destructive. Deadly. Something no one could survive.

Despair emptied him out. He became a shell of skin with nothing on the inside.

He reached for her, but even though he stood as close to the tub as he could get, she seemed so far away, as if miles and miles stretched between them. Water rained over his head, drizzling down inside his coat, but he barely noticed.

His hands didn’t seem like they belonged to him as he scooped her out of the tub. Her skin was slick and slippery. Her body limp and lifeless. “Helen.” His voice contained a vast desolation. Her head lolled awkwardly to the side, and wet strands of hair clung to her face in fat tentacles. Ribbons of blood leaked from the gaping wound over her heart, sliding over and around her breast, pooling in the bend of her stomach. 

A sick sense of dread filled all his empty places. The wound should be gushing, not dribbling. He was too late. She’d lost too much blood.

No. No. No. Goddamn it. She couldn’t be dead. He wouldn’t let her die. Not now. Not when he’d just found her. Helen needed to be alive. Even though they’d just met, he couldn’t live in a world without her in it. Didn’t matter if they were together or not, she just needed to be alive. That would be enough for him.

His legs folded beneath him. He sat on the floor, leaned against the old tub, and held her. He grabbed her chin and shook her head gently, “Helen. Oh God. Helen, wake up.” This was wrong. So wrong. None of this should be happening. Not now.

Never taking his eyes off her, he reached into his coat pocket for his phone and then dialed the number he called the most. Work. He pinched the phone between his ear and shoulder while it rang.

“No news yet.” Lanning said when he picked up the call. 

Thomas opened his mouth. Only one word came out. “Helen.” His brain had clogged up, allowing only a trickle of thought at a time.

“What?” Confusion dominated Lanning’s tone.

“Helen.” It was just a name to Lanning, but to Thomas, she was everything. “Helen’s been shot. I need an ambulance. The police.” He let the phone drop and distantly heard Lanning shouting.

Nothing in his whole life seemed as important as Helen. “You’ve got to fight.” A lump of some unnamed emotion rose in his throat. He struggled to swallow it back down. “You hear me? You have to fight to stay here with me. I know we just met. But you and me— there’s something between us. I knew it the moment I saw you. And you need to stay so we can explore this thing. Because it feels powerful. It feels destined. Like we are supposed to be together.”

His voice hitched, and he struggled to keep talking around the fear and grief bubbling up inside him. “Just listen to my voice.” He smoothed wet hair from her face. Chilled skin met his fingertips. She was too cold. The tang of her blood sickening in the damp air. “Follow my voice. Don’t let it go.”

Thomas shifted Helen’s body until she was settled in the crook of his left arm. Blood pooled on her stomach, seeping into his coat.

Without any reason or rationality, he pressed his hand over the bullet hole. A zap of static electricity blazed through him at the contact. Her body jolted, and then his hand suctioned to her chest.

Everything changed.

Inside his torso, a cool and pleasant sensation gathered, then rolled down his arm to his hand and poured into her. His eyes rolled back in his head under the waves of bliss pouring from him into her. Holy shit. Maybe he was losing his grip on reality, but some vital part of him—his essence, his strength, his soul—flowed into her. The ultimate act of giving. And it felt amazing. “You feel this? You feel me inside you? Making you better?” He sounded crazy. He’d worry about his sanity later.

Underneath her delicate eyelids, her eyes rolled. For the first time since he’d picked her up, he noticed the subtle rise and fall of her chest. Blood no longer trickled from the wound. He stared at his hand mashed against her chest. Were his eyes playing tricks on him? Making him see what he wanted to see instead of reality?

Did it really matter what was happening as long as Helen seemed to be improving? Everything inside him that had been so devastated perked up as if spring had arrived.

She wasn’t dead. He knew that now. Knew it as surely as he knew he was alive. He slumped back against the tub and sucked in a giant breath.

“You’re going to be all right. I’m with you. I’m inside you. I’m a part of you now.” His gaze traveled beyond his hand over her heart to her body. All the horror he thought was behind them reignited.

Her chest and stomach were covered in scars. Her body told a story of misery unimagined, of incomprehensible suffering. And from last night, he knew there were more on her back that he couldn’t see.

“Oh, Helen.” He hugged her tighter to him. What on earth had done that to her? “This is it. After this, all your pain is over. I won’t let anything hurt you ever again.” He kissed her forehead, sealing the deal.

In the distance, sirens sounded—a reassurance that everything was going to be okay. He just needed to keep his hand on her. Keep himself flowing into her. The sirens pulled into his driveway, then cut off midwail. 

Thomas whispered to Helen. “You’re gonna hate this, but there’s no getting around it this time. You’re going to the hospital.” He paused, waiting for some reaction from her. But she kept breathing, and her heart kept beating, and that was enough for him. “But don’t worry. I’ll be with you the whole time. You don’t have anything to be afraid of. I promise.”

Footsteps sounded on the staircase, then treaded down the hallway toward them.

“In there,” he called.

Two EMTs entered the bathroom. Thomas didn’t look at them; he just kept his attention on Helen. Her color was better, and he knew in the way-down-deep parts of himself that she was going to be all right.

“Dddaaammmnn…” One of the EMTs stretched the word out long and low.

Thomas’s attention snapped up to the guy. What was he…

The guy had his gaze glued to Helen’s face. “That’s Helena Grayse.”

Thomas knew that name. Everyone in Sundew, Ohio, knew the name.

He looked back down at Helen. She looked so fragile and damaged. Nothing like a murderer.

Abbie Roads is the best-selling author of the Fatal Dreams Series and the Fatal Truth Series. Her novels have been finalists in many prestigious contests including The Golden Heart, The Greater Detroit Booksellers Best, The Oklahoma National Readers’ Choice Award, The Write Touch, The Strut Your Stuff Contest, The Aspen Gold Contest, The Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, The Heart of Excellence Readers’ Choice Award, The Midnight Sun, The Kathryn Hayes Contest, The Chanticleer, The Daphne du Maurier, The National Readers’ Choice Award, The New England Readers’ Choice Contest, The Beverly Award, and The Maggie Award. Her debut novel Race the Darkness was Publishers Weekly Top 10 Pick for Fall and Never Let Me Fall is an Amazon Editor’s Pick.

By day Abbie Roads is a mental health counselor always focusing on the bright side. By night she writes on the dark side, putting her characters through the wringer before she gives them their happily-ever-after. She loves a good inspirational quote and is a fan of true crime.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

GIVEAWAY!

$25 Amazon gift card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

—