An unimaginable trauma. A future that seems impossible. When your world shatters, how do you put it back together?
For 950 days, Kathleen Conners has struggled with that choice. Behind a scarf and sunglasses, she hides from the world, from herself, from The Event, from any future with anyone.
After receiving a box of letters from his deceased mother, Matt Nelson is shoved from his predictable, controlled life to a secluded beach in North Carolina. While trying to understand his mother’s intent, he discovers Kathleen.
Matt must choose whether to follow the path his mother orchestrated or rescue the woman who has captured his heart. When the only person Kathleen blames more than herself reappears, can Matt be the strength Kathleen needs to create a new life, or will he be forced to walk away if she decides the climb is too great?
An Excerpt from Decide To Hope by June A. Converse
“Kathleen, I swear to you that if you are ever in my bed, it won’t be fucking.” He punctuated the final words and wiped away the single tear that moved down her cheek. He leaned across the table, nuzzled her face, and said into her damaged ear, “What I want is for you to be safe. What I want is for you to never push me away, for you to let me make you safe again.” Relaxing back into the bench, he added, “What is it you want, my Kathleen, what do you want? I’ll move heaven and earth to be what you need.”
Her eyes widened and her face jerked out of his hand. Tears streamed down her face. Staring at him, showing him her weariness and her abject terror, her blue irises turned a stormy gray.
“They’re gone, Matt.” She spoke with an eerily calm voice. “All of them. Everyone I’ve ever loved. Gone. I’m so tired, Matt. Do you understand?” She pushed away from the table. Her gray eyes blazed inches from his own. “I want to be gone, too.”
Matt’s arms thwomped onto the table. He sat immobile as Kathleen raced out the door into the pouring rain. The restaurant door thwacked behind her. Shaking himself, he realized she’d left her sunglasses, her bag, and even her shoes. The impact of the last few seconds held him in his seat. Time seemed to stop. Sound dropped away. The shadow of her danced behind his closed eyes.
June happily resides in Sandy Springs, Georgia, with her husband, Dave, and their dog, Sodapop. They have two wonderful adult children and two grandchildren. She is an enthusiastic exerciser and an accomplished cook. She and her husband enjoy hiking with Sodapop, traveling, scuba diving, trying new restaurants, concerts, and whatever other adventures they can find. Reading and a constant desire to learn keeps her busy too.
A trauma survivor who struggles with mental illness, June is continuously reaching for hope like the characters in her books. She openly discusses her personal struggles on her blog, JuneConverse.com
Decide to Hope is her first novel and relies a great deal on her own experience with trauma, choices, recovery and hope. If you’d like to discuss trauma, coping and recovery, contact her at JuneConverse.com or DecideToHope.com
Hollywood heartthrob, Maxton Waters, has just been named the World’s Sexiest Man Alive. Women fantasize about him. Men want to be him. The paparazzi continuously follow him. His ego is definitely larger than his heart.
Poverty made her grateful.
Whitley Gonzalez has made a life for herself after growing up in and out of homeless shelters. Now a hardworking nurse, she spends her spare time raising her son alone and giving back to the community that helped raise her.
But when Max is sentenced to hours of community services and placed under the single mom’s thumb, working together proves harder than they ever expected, inspiring an unlikely love in the city.
*Can be read as a standalone*
Candy at Prisoners of Paint – “Love. Adore. Smitten for. Crazy about. Infatuated with.”
Author Kelly Siskind – “The chemistry between Whitley and Max was stellar. Fun banter.”
Britt Red Hatter Book Blog – “If you’re looking for something that gives you pure heartfelt sweetness with the perfect amount of heat, look no further!”
Steph Nuss was born and raised in rural Kansas, where she currently resides with her black Labrador son named Gunner. She grew up with a passion for reading and writing. When she’s not immersed into the land of fiction, she enjoys listening to music that came before her time, watching movies and reruns of her favorite shows, and hanging out with her family and friends. She also has a bachelor’s degree in psychology that she’ll never use…unless she’s profiling her characters of course.
For a limited time, download A DISTANT HEART for just $2.99!
Infused with the rhythms of life in modern-day India, acclaimed author Sonali Dev’s candid, rewarding novel beautifully evokes all the complexities of the human heart in A DISTANT HEART.
“Searingly asks its characters what they’re willing to do for the people they love… explores family dynamics, class issues, and many layers of guilt, hope, and determination in ways that are both distinctly Indian and universally luminous. Another beautiful, breathtaking novel from a not-to-be-missed author.” – Kirkus, STARRED Review
Add A DISTANT HEART to your TBR pile on Goodreads then keep reading for a sample excerpt from A DISTANT HEART!
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Title: A Distant Heart
Author: Sonali Dev
Genre: Romantic Women’s Fictoin
Release Date: December 26, 2017
Publisher: Kensington
Page Count: 100k
Print ISBN: 978-1496705761
Digital ISBN: B06XZR97YK
Synopsis:
Her name means “miracle” in Sanskrit, and to her parents, that’s exactly what Kimaya is. The first baby to survive after several miscarriages, Kimi grows up in a mansion at the top of Mumbai’s Pali Hill, surrounded by love and privilege. But at eleven years old, she develops a rare illness that requires her to be confined to a germ-free ivory tower in her home, with only the Arabian Sea churning outside her window for company. . . . Until one person dares venture into her world.
Tasked at fourteen years old with supporting his family, Rahul Savant shows up to wash Kimi’s windows, and an unlikely friendship develops across the plastic curtain of her isolation room. As years pass, Rahul becomes Kimi’s eyes to the outside world–and she becomes his inspiration to better himself by enrolling in the police force. But when a life-saving heart transplant offers the chance of a real future, both must face all that ties them together and keeps them apart.
As Kimi anticipates a new life, Rahul struggles with loving someone he may yet lose. And when his investigation into an organ black market ring run by a sociopathic gang lord exposes dangerous secrets that cut too close to home, only Rahul’s deep, abiding connection with Kimi can keep her safe–and reveal the true meaning of courage, loss, and second chances.
Infused with the rhythms of life in modern-day India, acclaimed author Sonali Dev’s candid, rewarding novel beautifully evokes all the complexities of the human heart.
Freedom was a beautiful thing! Mumbai in all its grimy, gray, pre-monsoon glory flew past Kimi as her auto-rickshaw sped between cars and pedestrians with the zeal of a bastard child born of a Diwali rocket and an immortal god. She almost asked the driver to slow down, but with the wind whipping her ponytail and the driver’s mop of curls in a joint symphony she felt as recklessly brave as the whirring vehicle racing along on its three wheels.
Emblazoned across the dashboard of the rickshaw was the goddess Durga dancing on the corpse of a demon like the evil-hunting badass she was. Bowing to her was Bollywood’s favorite superhero, Krish, with his muscles bulging like fat rubber balls and his hair coiffed high. In a perfect background score to Kimi’s life’s drama, the techno-beat-laden remix of an old Bollywood number drowned out the cacophony of horns the driver left in his wake.
The combination was delicious and exactly worthy of what she had just done. What she was about to do.
Freedom!
You know who else was badass? Kimaya Kirit Patil, that’s who.
There had been one hundred and twelve instances over twelve years when each breath had been a fight and her limbs had turned to mist. She had fought. Not like a warrior, because that would involve the use of said limbs, but like someone drowning, where all you could do is keep the water out of your nose, so it wouldn’t keep the air from your lungs. Breathe out. Breathe out. She had followed those breaths. Grabbed on to those thin wisps of air like lifelines and made herself live one grip at a time.
Then the cure she had waited twelve years for in a sterile room had come. A heart had become available. Surely that meant something. Someone had died, after all, so she might live. Someone with the exact kind of blood and plasma that would let a foreign heart beat within her chest with the confidence of an indegene. Surely that meant she could now have what she never thought she would—all that she had gazed upon from the windows of her room, sealed tight with every technology known to man, so no germ, no pathogen would dare venture into her world, let alone an entire human being. Except Rahul—he had ventured. And then gone on venturing until he was all the way inside.
He’d helped her understand calculus and the nuanced stories of Premchand. He had known how atoms split, why Europe went to war twice within half a century, and the why and when of each invention that transformed the history of civilization. He had touched her, despite promises he’d made. Because it was exactly what she had needed. His gloved hand in hers. He had given her anything she had asked for when everyone else had been too afraid. And she had known that if she lived, if her parents got what they had sealed her in a room twelve years for—a daughter who lived—she would spend the rest of that life taking care of him. The way he had taken care of her.
Except she hadn’t considered the most important part of her plan: him. She had returned from Hong Kong with her new heart and he had looked at her with those dark-tar eyes turned even darker by all that emotion when she ran to him. “You’re running,” he had said, as usual choosing the least words to say the most.
“Yes,” she had said, knowing exactly why every single hard-won breath had been worth it. But then she had told him her grand plan: the two of them living happily ever after.
As always she had asked him for what she wanted. What she hadn’t for one moment considered that he didn’t also want.
He had thanked her for the offer to love him forever, and passed on it.
The person who had kept her from being alone when she was locked up in a room had finally shown her what loneliness was when he walked away from her, leaving her alone in the crowded world she had craved for so long.
No one had the right to that kind of power.
She leaned back into the overstuffed vinyl seat of the speeding auto-rickshaw feeling awfully light.
It only made sense that losing a part of yourself would bring lightness.
No. She wasn’t doing that. She was not going all morose and doing the Tragic Princess shit anymore. That wasn’t her. No matter how people saw her, that was not her. Not anymore.
Actually, it had never been her. Why the hell was she letting herself go down that path now?
She was past the Rahul-induced sadness. Done with it. He’d made his intentions clear. They were no longer—well, they just weren’t anymore. Nothing, anything, they just weren’t.
Plato would ask if the fact that they weren’t anymore meant they had never been. Or was it Aristotle? You know who would know? The one person who she could not, would not, call for a fact check. This wasn’t a Tragic Princess thought, but here it was anyway: She had to stop thinking of life in terms of thoughts she saved up for Rahul like seashells collected on a walk along the beach. It was time.
Praise for A DISTANT HEART
“Dev crafts another thrilling story filled with intense drama, deep emotion, and well-developed characters; a can’t-put-down book.”—Library Journal, STARRED Review
“Thrilling action sequences and a complex, weighty romance propel this smart, sensitive story. A natural wordsmith, Dev dives into the psyches of disparate characters with voice-driven prose that includes both chilling insights and quirky humor… This poignant, sensual, and exciting tale captures a range of emotions and conflicts.”—Booklist, STARRED Review
“Award-winning Dev returns with another of her emotionally resonating stories that explore, in depth, the intersection of friendship, love, sacrifice and desperation… There is a tremendous richness to this story… A truly captivating tale of friendship and love. Dev always delivers!”—RT Book Reviews, 4.5 Stars, TOP PICK!
About Sonali Dev Sonali Dev’s first literary work was a play about mistaken identities performed at her neighborhood Diwali extravaganza in Mumbai. She was eight years old. Despite this early success, Sonali spent the next few decades getting degrees in architecture and writing, migrating across the globe, and starting a family while writing for magazines and websites. With the advent of her first gray hair her mad love for telling stories returned full force, and she now combines it with her insights into Indian culture to conjure up stories that make a mad tangle with her life as supermom, domestic goddess, and world traveler.
Sonali lives in the Chicago suburbs with her very patient and often amused husband and two teens who demand both patience and humor, and the world’s most perfect dog.
Sonali’s novels have been on Library Journal, NPR, Washington Post, and Kirkus’s lists of Best Books of the year. She won the American Library Association’s award for best romance 2014, and is a RITA® finalist, RT Reviewer Choice Award Nominee, and winner of the RT Seal of Excellence. She was hailed by NPR.org as a ‘stunning debut’.
I remember how effortlessly he stole my heart- his dark eyes and quick smile forever etched into my mind. We spent one incredible night together under a haze of tequila- a perfect night. And when I woke the next day, he was gone…
I never expected to see him again. Years passed and with it, life went on. Until one day there he was- standing in front of me like no time had passed at all.
He’s determined to remedy his mistakes. I’m determined to let him try. Because even though I know I should walk away- the urge to feel the burn is just too strong.
RELEASING MAY 24, 2018
Melissa Toppen is a Reader’s Choice Award Winning and Bestselling Author of New Adult and Contemporary Romance. She is a lover of books and enjoys nothing more than losing herself in a good novel. She has a soft spot for Romance and focuses her writing in that direction; writing what she loves to read.
Melissa resides in Cincinnati Ohio with her husband and two children, where she writes full time.
Release Date: May 8, 2018 Publisher: Crave Publishing
Rules. I’m starting to think I have the natural talent for breaking them.
I hate rules. Always have. Especially since I had them shoved in my face my entire life.
I didn’t ask to be a Valenti. And I sure as hell didn’t agree to follow all their goddamn rules.
Yet it’s been years since I broke one of my family’s most cardinal laws. It was a mistake—I know that now. But that’s the thing about mistakes. You never know you’re about to make one until it’s too late.
Unfortunately, every transgression, every wrong decision has a way to demand atonement. No matter if it’s hours, days, or years after.
I’m still waiting for my past mistakes to exact payment. It’ll come. I know it will.
But now, while I’m sitting in the interrogation room staring at the sinfully gorgeous Detective Lorik Stone, I can’t help but think about all my family’s rules…
…and how I’m about to break another one.
I was a strong woman. Men hardly ever intimidated me, and seducing me was no easy task. But this man? This man had my attention for nothing more than a few minutes, and already my mind was filled with dirty thoughts and wild fantasies.
He stepped up to me, his face inches from mine. I felt his warm breath skid across my cheek, and the sensation stormed straight through my body, settling right between my thighs.
As he leaned closer, the warmth of his breath started to stir an array of sensations all through my body. My heart was now jackhammering against my ribs, my throat feeling like the damn desert.
When he lifted his arm, his gaze never leaving mine, I sucked in a breath. And then he reached behind me, his lips mere inches away, and pushed a button next to my head and said, “Monroe, open the door for Miss Valenti.”
I thought I died. I was dead. I died and collapsed into a giant puddle of pathetic womanhood.
The click of the door sounded behind me, and I was out of there faster than you could say “what the fuck was that?”
As my heels clicked down the hall, my heartbeat slowly returning to normal, I heard a second pair of footsteps behind me.
“You in town long, Miss Valenti?”
I took a deep breath, but I didn’t slow down. “You’re the detective, you tell me.”
“I’m guessing no more than a few weeks?”
“Is that you guessing or saying?”
He fell into step next to me. “I’m going to go with guessing.”
I stopped and turned to face him. “You’re good, Detective, I’ll give you that. But let’s say you’re right—and I’m not saying you are—but if I am the daughter of an Italian-American mafia boss, as you suspect I am, you’ve got real balls summoning me down here and then putting me in a damn interrogation room like a criminal. I’d say that wasn’t a very smart move, Detective.”
He studied my face, and I didn’t even blink. Heck, I didn’t even breathe.
“Are you threatening me, Karina?” Lord help me, but the way my name rolled off his lips was like eroticism on fucking steroids. It was like porn to my ears.
I took a step back and tried to ignore the tingles spreading through my bones like wildfire, and I squared my shoulders.
“Not at all.” I lifted my voice a single octave. “I’m merely stating that if what you said was true, you just made one hell of a rookie mistake.”
With my words hanging in the air like the threat it was meant to be, I turned on my heel and sashayed my curvy ass out of there. I could feel his eyes on me the entire time, until I exited the building.
The moment I stepped outside, I took a deep breath, letting the fresh air fill my lungs. The feeling that scratched against every bone in my body was too damn familiar. I’d experienced this before, the feeling of a man being able to electrify my body without even touching me. It was unnerving, yet exciting at the same time. But I learned the hard way that this feeling was also powerful enough to bring me to my knees. I promised myself I would never let a man affect me like that again. Too much was at stake, and I already had too many regrets because I gave in to that temptation once.
But, by God, my body felt like it was on fire just having Detective Stone’s eyes on me. He wasn’t even touching me, or close to touching me, for that matter. There was sweat running down my back, for God’s sake. That was how he managed to affect me within less than twenty-five minutes.
It was the eyes. It had to be those dark goddamn eyes. Devil eyes, that was what they were. Dark windows into the demonic world where he could make you offer up sweet, innocent little puppies with a single glance. Damn, I was pretty sure he would make you want to toss in a tiny kitten as well, just for good measure.
I exhaled and looked up to the sky. Was this the universe’s way of playing one sick joke on me, showing me no matter how hard I tried to put the past behind me, there was no way of escaping who I was? A woman drawn to the forbidden, charmed by the prospects of breaking rules, and resisting authority by walking on the edge?
No. Not again. Never.
All the way from Cape Town, South Africa, Bella J lives for the days when she’s able to retreat to her writer’s cave where she can get lost in her little pretend world of romance, love, and insanely hot bad boys.
Bella J is a Hybrid Author with both Self-Published and Traditional Published work. Even though her novels range from drama, to comedy, to suspense, it’s the dark, twisted side of romance she loves the most.
Stella Stone is a pen name for an established romance author who wants to write Simply. Sexy. Stories.
She is a mother of two boys, and wife to a bearded hubby, residing in a rural Texas town. During the day she writes sexy stories while her children are at school. In the afternoon, she is chauffeur, Taekwondo observer, loud baseball, basketball and cheering swim mom.
Please enjoy her Simply. Sexy. Stories and the Alpha men she enjoys creating.
Release Date: May 31, 2018 Photographer: Reggie Deanching at RplusMphoto Cover Models: Cassie Lynn and David Wills Cover Design: SK Designs
Angel
After the death of my parents, I learned life was way shorter than anyone could’ve predicted. I found myself lost in writing my dreams and fantasies down on paper until I published my first book.
Then reality smacked me in the face when I caught the one man I’d planned to spend my future with giving his secretary a cavity check. Cue in bat-sh*t crazy girlfriend.
When I thought my life was taking a turn, all it took was one phone call to put it in a different direction.
Carter
Living life to the fullest has always been our family’s motto. Cancer wore heavily for a few years, but we never let that dampen our spirits because my father would have never wanted that, but the bills that piled up sent me on a new path in my life…cover modeling.
At the beginning, it was an ego boost to be on so many authors’ covers. Eventually, it fizzled into wanting more out of my life.
I found more in Angel, but outside our bubble there was one person who didn’t want to see us succeed.
Dana Arden is a romance author and an avid reader, as well as a mom to four
children. She is originally from Virginia, but moved to North Carolina in 2009. Her children are her muses when it comes to her books that have children involved. Who funnier to get little snippets from than from the mouth of babes.
This has been an adventure and she hopes to continue it with more stories in the future.
Release Date: May 23, 2018 Cover Designer: Reese Dante
Life made him dangerous. Love made him lethal.
Killian Marks is a third-generation hitman. After hunting monsters for over twenty years, he lives under no illusions of happily ever afters and fairy tales. Until he meets a man who threatens to disarm him, by giving him hope for a future and showing him there’s more to life than just death.
For Nick, living in shadows is second nature. He’s all too familiar with the dark side of humanity and knows how delicate life can be. Each new day is a gift, even though it means doing it alone. But he’ll risk his survival for the one man who awakens something deep within and leaves him yearning for more.
Nick wants to solve the mystery behind the dark, brooding man, while Killian craves the life and light emanating from Nick. They soon discover they have more in common than either could have anticipated. With both their lives and hearts at stake, they must confront the ghost from Nick’s past intent on tying up a loose end. Only then will they truly find peace, and discover the shades of life in between.
Jaime Reese is the alter ego of an artist who loves the creative process of writing, just not about herself. Fiction is far more interesting. She has a weakness for broken, misunderstood heroes and feels everyone deserves a chance at love and life. An avid fan of a happy ending, she believes those endings acquired with a little difficulty are more cherished.
Release Date: May 21, 2018 Cover Design: Mayhem Cover Creations.
When she told me Sons of Anarchy was her favorite show, I knew I was in trouble.
When she said I’m what Jax would look like if he didn’t die, I knew I was screwed.
I was her fantasy man… all grown up.
But I’m no pretty boy acting in a show.
This is real life sweetheart.
It’s ugly.
It’s raw.
Unscripted.
Meat a.ka. Roger spent his life protecting the secrets of his motorcycle club while being a bodyguard to the princess who grew up in its shadow. But when she finds her king and her happy ending: Roger rides alone.
Devon walks into his bar looking for a job. But, one look at the tatted, silver fox and she knows she’s found her man.
But Meat wants nothing to do with a girl half his age.
He calls her jailbait.
She calls him her dream man.
Sometimes the best things are unplanned. They are UnScripted.
Authors Note: This is a standalone spinoff novel from Duke but the author does recommend reading in order.
“You showed.”
Shrieking, I turn around, with a hand over my rapidly beating heart. My first thought is: He’s huge. My second thought is: He’s that asshole. My third thought is: Damn, he’s fine.
Be cool Dev, be cool. My fingernails dig into my palms as I try to slow it down, bite my tongue and rein in my swirling emotions. I can’t make an enemy of this man when he could be the key to solving so many answers of my past.
“Y-yes.”
He smirks, slowing coming forward and my breath catches before I burst out into a fit of laughter. He’s a beast–a giant with ink covering both arms, but in that white apron he’s wearing over a pair of worn jeans he looks like any woman’s wet dream who’s over forty.
“What?” He barks.
“It’s just. It’s just that… I’m sorry,” I gasp out swiping tears of laughter, “You look hot. I mean, for an old guy and all… in that apron,” I gesture with one hand, trying to charm him with the truth.
His lips don’t twitch. He stares me down with eyes that seem to glow in the dark. Fascinated, I slowly walk forward. I’ve never seen eyes that color before. They’re light blue like arctic ice caps, bobbing in a frigid sea. And his hair… it’s gray and hands down the back of his neck tethered by a leather strap. His beard looks soft, they kind that you could run a hand over before you cuddle in, listening to the sound of your man’s steady heart. What the fuck?
I shake my head and clear my throat. “I’m sorry. You caught me off guard.”
“Follow me,” he grunts.
He leads me down a hall towards the kitchen. The smells wafting towards us makes my tummy growl. I know he heard, but he doesn’t crack a joke at my expense.
My eyes lower to his ass, and I bite my lip. He’s built. His ass is firm and meaty like he used to power lift or something. I kind of feel like a freak for even looking at a man who’s got to be twice my age at least—but I’m fascinated. I’m fascinated that he’s in such good shape and intrigued that he knows who Dee was. I need to make sure I get this job. It might be the key to solving everything about my past.
Jax Hart: Singer, a songwriter, living creatively through art. Dirty Romance author from the great state of Washington. Duke is his first full-length novel. He generally hates most people, plays the bass guitar, and enjoys camping trips with his son.
Gold Diggeris one of those stories where you think you’re going to hate it, because let’s face it Blake Moreno is a jerk and a half. He’s arrogant and rude because he’s hot, he’s rich and he knows he’s a hot commodity. He’s also a big ol’ man hoe, which I’m not holding against him but I’m also not pregnant after a drunken night of sex with him. So yeah, let’s say it took me a while to warm up to Blake and I was full on Team Hadley even though I didn’t always agree with her.
What I enjoyed about this story was the fact that there were times I was shouting at my Kindle for Hadley to put Blake in his place. To tell him he wasn’t all that—even though he totally was—and bring him to his knees.
But it turns out patience was all that was required when reading Gold Digger, watching a guy like Blake fall.
Sat-is-fying!
Parts of this story were funny and parts were hot, other parts were super annoying but overall it was a pretty enjoyable read.
“Funny Funny Funny…with an extra dose of sexy. This story has awesome one liners that kept me chuckling throughout.” – Cali Gal’s
“This book is the entire package! It’s laugh out loud funny, sweet with just the right amount of sour, and a good amount of drama to keep you reading.” – Nerdy Dirty & Flirty
“This hilariously funny story had me laughing until I cried. As per RB Hilliard’s normal story telling, it was full of steam, heat, and relatable characters.” – Book Club Gone Wrong
Blake Moreno doesn’t do relationships, ever.
With more money than he knows what to do with and his pick of beautiful women, he has no plans of becoming tied down.
Hadley Jacobs doesn’t have time for dating.
With plans to finish culinary school and to own her own bakery, she has her life all mapped out.
Blake thinks Hadley is infuriating…
Hadley thinks Blake is controlling…
Both couldn’t be more wrong.
When life throws them a curve ball, they have no choice but to catch it and to prove that in the end, love wins. Every. Time.
The minute I stepped into the bar, I spotted them. Hadley’s back was to me and, from where I was standing, it looked as if Belinda and Patrice were blocking her exit. Fucking hell. Since when were Belinda and Patrice friends? And where was Wayne? I started toward them. Bits and pieces of their conversation filtered in as I got closer.
“I’m sorry I took your friend’s job. I wasn’t aware the position had been offered to her,” Hadley told Belinda. “And I’m sorry that my piano playing skills were subpar, however, being that I’m a chef, this shouldn’t surprise you,” she directed at Patrice.
“I know why you’re here. I overheard Zane talking to Cathryn about it. You might be carrying Blake’s brat in your belly but take it from me when I say he isn’t going to take well to being trapped,” Patrice declared, right as I stepped up behind Hadley. Both Patrice and Belinda’s eyes jerked to me and bulged in surprise, but being that Hadley’s back was to me, she wasn’t aware of my presence.
“You’ve got me!” Hadley said, her tone laced with contempt and sarcasm. “Wow, you two are a regular Cagney and Lacey. Tell me, how did you figure it out? Because, really, I planned it so carefully.” Neither woman said a word. They just stood there staring at me. I, however, was highly entertained. Folding my arms over my chest, I waited to see what Hadley would say next. She didn’t disappoint.
“You know what this is about don’t you?” she whispered in a conspiratorial tone. “Blake thinks it’s about the baby, but it’s really about the money. I hear he’s loaded.” I silently chuckled when she expelled a wistful sounding sigh and followed it with, “I’ve always dreamed of being rich.” Both women jumped when she threw up her hands, and shouted, “Yep! Just call me gold digger!” On that note, she then turned to leave. A strangled shriek escaped when she smacked right into me. As she pressed her hands to my chest in order to keep from toppling over, the warmth of her touch seared through me.
“Blake!” she gasped, clearly shocked to find me standing there.
Before Hadley did something else, such as call Patrice Patsy again or refer to Belinda as Boobzilla—something I’d heard both she and Wayne do on more than one occasion—I reached for her hand. Ignoring Patrice and Belinda, who were still busy gawking at us, I said, “Come on, Gold Digger, we’re going to be late for our appointment,” and pulled her in the direction of the door. Right as we breached the threshold, I glanced back over my shoulder and gave the two vipers a look of warning, letting them know that we would be discussing this incident later.
“I didn’t see you standing there,” Hadley muttered, as we made our way toward the front of the hotel.
“Clearly,” I mused, while trying not to laugh at the scene I’d just witnessed. When she let out a disgusted sounding huff, I lost the battle and let the laughter roll. She responded with another huff and a face scrunch, and I thought, this woman is something else.
RB Hilliard lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband and two children. In 2012 she began writing His End Game, the first book in her MMG Series. Hilliard has not only published six books in this series, but has gone on to publish Utterly Forgettable, a hilariously funny Romantic Comedy, as well as her Rock Star Romance Series, Meltdown.
Sonali Dev’s first literary work was a play about mistaken identities performed at her neighborhood Diwali extravaganza in Mumbai. She was eight years old. Despite this early success, Sonali spent the next few decades getting degrees in architecture and writing, migrating across the globe, and starting a family while writing for magazines and websites. With the advent of her first gray hair her mad love for telling stories returned full force, and she now combines it with her insights into Indian culture to conjure up stories that make a mad tangle with her life as supermom, domestic goddess, and world traveler.
Natasha's Book Nook 