I tried to be the strong one, but today hurt every bone, muscle and brain cell in my body. Without her by my side, life was painful. For years, she had been the sun in my days, the one I was looking for in the darkness. She was my light, my love and inspiration. My reason to stay alive. We were always together before I joined Special Forces. During our last deployment, we were lucky to be working together as a team and we both enjoyed it. I knew her better than I knew myself and while we worked jointly, I saw who she was and how strong and dedicated she had become. Her pride over serving in the Army was beyond most men. Her determination was astounding, she’d faced death, survived to my abject relief and still stayed the fighter she’s always been. Her injuries and pain didn’t make her weak, she’d become stronger and fought against her fears.

I sat in the plane next to Remy. We had left a little over two hours ago and I could still feel her sadness, as if it was attached to my heart. Remy was also feeling blue, as he considered Avery to be like a sister. I hated that I was the reason behind her sadness. I held back the tears as long as I could, but mid-way to our destination, it overwhelmed me and I gave up.

“Fuck…. Fuck… I hate this!” I yelled. I regretted leaving her. I should have requested a release at the same time as she did. This was a fucking nightmare. “I should be home with her, Remy. We could be starting a family like we want. I shouldn’t have come… I shouldn’t have.” Each word, every memory of our conversations about the future hurt, kicking me in the chest because I wanted them now. Every minute away from her was a waste of our time.

“Cart, man, relax.” Remy squeezed my shoulder with a strong hand. “This, the Army, is our life, you can’t go back now. We’ll do this and go back home like we always do. A couple of months won’t change anything in the end. She loves you like crazy and you love her even more.” He paused. “Look, we can do this. It’s hard now because you just left her. Even I’m sad. I’ll miss her too but it’s what we do, man, we are Special Forces. We leave and we come back stronger. We fight for what’s right. We have a job to get done now. Focus on that.”

“Being away from her is different this time. It’s not that I don’t like it, I hate it. It shouldn’t be like this. We had the best times of our lives these past few days. She was glowing, she was smiling like she used to, before the bombing. I felt like she was finally back with me, with us.”

“I saw it too. She was different, happy.” He smiled. “It’s all you, Carter. You were able to make her the happiest bride, even though she knew you were leaving. Use that to motivate yourself. We’ll be back before we know it.”

“Thanks, bro.” I dried my tears on the sleeve of my shirt. I was still angry at myself but he was right. She was happy again. I had to focus on that and come back home as soon as possible. She was my life now. Everything I am or own, is hers.

”I want you to tell me how you feel while you are away. Write me or call me as much as you can.” I grabbed my backpack and opened the front pocket to find my pen and paper.

Avery, 

I haven’t arrived at our destination yet, and I’m already writing because I’m thinking about you. I miss you. I can’t stop seeing your smile and beauty in my mind.

Thank you for the pictures, I’ll keep the one of you in your wedding dress with me all the time. Except when I’m in the shower, of course.

I’ve been wanting to tell you how amazing and beautiful you are. Your smiles are back, the ones that made me fall in love with you years ago. The smiles that reach your eyes and the smiles when you bite your lower lip. I loved the way you blushed when you walked down the aisle. You took my heart at that moment and stole it. You are the one who owns it, take care of it. My heart is nothing without you.

I will be back to you soon and we’ll start our family. We could even buy a dog or a cat and move to a different city. Somewhere by the beach or in the country. Anything baby, just say it and you’ll have it.

I love you my shining star, more than you’ll ever know.

Carter

Kisses and hugs

I placed the letter in an envelope and addressed it. I wanted her to receive it soon, as I knew the waiting would be hard for Avery. I was planning to write to her every day or every other day.

Remy had fallen asleep and I wondered how life was for him. He was single, I’d never seen him serious about a girl before. He flirted here and there but he never talked about any girl in particular, or suggested he hoped to meet ‘the one’. Never. As far as I knew, he didn’t plan to stay in the Army forever and I always assumed he would eventually try to settle down with someone. I feared the loneliness he must sometimes feel. It was probably hard for him to see Avery and me so happy together. I wanted him to be happy too. He deserved to be.

I couldn’t force him into anything but maybe I could talk to him about dating.

We finally made it to the camp. It looked the same as the last one. I had to try and stop imagining Avery everywhere. I was ridiculously obsessed with my wife. She was safe at home and this was the right thing for her, for both of us. While we were getting installed, the guys were talking about our wedding and were really cool about it. Most of them were married and already fathers. Some of them even asked me to show them my ring. That was just weird, wasn’t it something girls do? The ring was simple, white gold with two small diamonds. We chose it together, the diamonds representing us. Avery’s ring was as simple as mine, she’d never been the type of girl who wanted huge diamonds. I was ready to buy her the biggest diamond I could afford but she’d refused and went for something small and modest. It represented her after all.

As soon as we got on camp, we started doing some work in settling in and we discovered issues. And to make everything worse, the internet was not working properly. We had security issues and couldn’t use it for personal requirements. That meant no emailing and Avery was probably going to lose it in Fort Bragg. I had to make sure my letter got to her as soon as possible. I could try to call her, I would love to hear her voice. In the Special Forces, it only happened rarely that we had to deal with communication problems since it was one of our most important tool.

Finally, I located my bunk bed, I placed my backpack next to it and put the envelope containing the pictures under the thin blanket. I retrieved Avery’s picture from my front pocket and looked at her for a few seconds. Her pale blond hair was piled on top of her head, in elaborate curls. She was gorgeous. Her gown was showing just enough skin, and kissed all of her curves. I was a proud man, and knew I was lucky that she picked me.

Today was my first day away but on the bright side, I was one day closer to seeing her again.

That was my main focus.

HE is trying to piece together his broken life.

SHE is running away from her wedding day.

TOGETHER, their world is a beautiful lie.

APART, their world is a perfect mess.

He + She is a free-spirited romance about soul-awakening second chances, heartbreak, and hopeful beginnings

 Michelle Warren didn’t travel the road to writer immediately. She spent over a decade as professional Illustrator and designer. Her artistic creativity combined with her love of science fiction, paranormal and fantasy led her to write her first YA novel, Wander Dust. Michelle loves reading and traveling to places that inspire her to create. She resides in downtown Chicago.

Website/Blog

Facebook

Goodreads

Twitter @MMichelleWarren

Instagram

Tumblr 

Amazon Author Page

Pinterest 

ACS Tours

Totally loved this debut. If you look at the cover, to be honest it is misleading, this is a gritty novel. There are some circumstances Liliana faced that were explosive! After 7 years nothing for her has changed. She has a family owned coffee shop in So-Cal. She lives a quiet and very modest life in her Grandma’s house. I loved the Balboa Island references. It is very close to my heart and everyone knows I love the beach!

As for the plot; hold onto your seat. It is a very well thought out book. All of the characters play a significant role. When someone is stalking, you won’t guess who it is. I particularly fell in the love with Maxwell and Lil together. After they are together the group known as “The Blues” (for their gray haired color) who are the “root” of the Balboa Island population. Now for the record the places, scenery and descriptions are very accurate and you will fall in love with Southern California like I did.

The author worked the character of Lil’s suspicious nature into the plotso it was basically seamless. No errors or inconsistencies. She wrote a very strong and business minded girl for Lil and a handsome friend from the past for Max.

As for the love story here..it is HOT! I am talking a chili pepper hot. After an attack, Lilianna could never really date. In many ways the author wrote a very blah existence for her until Max. Well my oh my several big scenes are just the right amount. Marshal is juicy with a capital J!

Please read this one and visit a small island in Southern California!

****Warning****

REcovered contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language. This material is intended for adults only!

CJ Hartland is a Los Angeles based, part-time author. She finds the time to write when her, pride & joy, baby boy and, love of her life, husband go to bed. Growing up, CJ spent much of her time at her grandmother’s home in Balboa Island, the setting for her new series, The Lilianna Marshal Story; first installment, REcovered, available now on Amazon. CJ loves hearing from readers and can be contacted at HartlandCJ@gmail.com.

The second book in the Lilianna Marshal Story, REkindled is coming soon!

Twitter

Goodreads Author

Book on Goodreads

BUY Amazon

Author’s Amazon Page

Author Web

GIVEAWAY

Discovering a long-kept secret…

Helped by a mysterious stranger…

Sometimes, fate takes you by surprise.

Great plot! I was very interested in how this was going to play out. When Hannah (our main character) finds a librarian Spencer Rush aka Rush, he is very mysterious. I was dying to learn what this book had. So she discovers he has the book and steals it from him, he follows her home. Bam, bingo, bang zoom this is in the first few chapters. It is a quick moving story. All the while the mystery of the book unravels.

So the secret is hidden from Hannah and it protects a lot! Now with Rush, who has his own secret, she needs to try to let her guard down. It is a cat and mouse game. There is a lot of heat thrown into the book so the romance fans will love it.

The romance and falling for Rush is brought front burner and the book? who the hell cares they are too hot! Anyways… Call it FATE was a wonderfully written debut. The story of the book was great and I applaud the author for seriously holding my interest.

www.elizabethwyke.com
www.facebook.com/authorelizabethwyke
www.twitter.com/elizabeth_wyke

Though a Colorado native, I’ve lived most of my life where the wind comes sweeping down the plains, in the great state of Oklahoma. Here I live with a ton of testosterone… my amazing husband, two incredible sons, and three dogs – two of which are also male, and thus testosterone-driven, as well. Most of my free time (i.e. after the kids are asleep) is spent replenishing what dwindling estrogen levels remain, by reading and writing sappy love stories.

I discovered my love for creative writing as a teenager, and always dreamed of penning a full-length novel, but honestly never thought I’d really do it. Then after falling in love with so many indie authors, I thought to myself, “Well if they were brave enough to do it, certainly I can be too, right?” So in-between my duties as wife and mommy, I took some online writing classes to polish the attempt, and from the very first writing assignment, the idea of Call It Fate was born. I knew right then I would eventually turn it in to a book. And here we are!

I’m a total Facebook junkie, and hope you take a second to like my page over there so we can connect, and really stay connected long-term!

I’ve said before some of my other “healthy” (ok, maybe not so healthy) addictions are über-sweet coffee drinks, and all things Maroon 5. But I’m really just a big fan of music in general. It plays a huge role in my writing, and also day-to-day life, motivating me to kick it in gear and fold some laundry, or clean up the dishes. I’ve often said, “a workout is only as good as its playlist”…but really, that could be said for just about everything in my daily life.

I’m always on the lookout for new books, and new music, so please let me know what you love! I’m eager to hear your suggestions, so bring ‘em on! I can’t wait to connect with you!

Happy Reading!

Lizzie

Buy IT

KINDLE     NOOK      KOBO 

My best friend was dying and I was in love with his girl.
Andy and I had been best friends since we were eight-years old.

Watching him slowly fade away, ever closer to his final breath, made me so incredibly angry. I knew there was nothing I could do to change it–I had given in to despair, but Andy had not. He had one last hand to play.
He wasn’t going to simply sit back and wait for Death to claim him–not Andy. He was going to live life until he couldn’t hold his eyes open any longer.

Andy didn’t want to die in some sterile hospital and asked me to take him and Emily to the beach. It would be our last road trip together.

Emily. Emily was a problem for me.

I harbored a secret that would have torn our friendship apart. I was in love with Andy’s girl, and had been since she’d walked into our sixth grade class, so many years ago.

So what kind of person am I? My best friend is dying, and it’s awful–but my heart still aches for his girl. I hate myself for thinking beyond Andy’s death and whether there could ever be a future for Emily and I, but I can’t help it.

I’m in love with her.

 

Let me start by saying that I love Ginger Scott. It is so easy to love her style and her writing. This was SO different from her other books. I am still struggling and think this is her best work yet! Here goes my fave character Charlotte aka Charlie is just challenged. She starts out having to be a grown up and at 7 meeting her real Dad was not exactly a highlight. I liked her because she was different. She had a goodie goodie vibe about her. Meeting her Dad, living with him, but not really knowing each other was the most interesting dynamic I have read in a while. That is where the author is at her best. Like her other work the parent roles are not at all typical. She does a really interesting thing with Charlie and her Dad that I felt made me love her more.

Charlie needs to pass her ,math test in order to get her college degree. She seeks help and meets Cody. Cody is in a wheel chair, he has tattoos and he is bold. Exactly the opposite of Charlie’s boyfriend Trevor. The thing about Trevor and Charlie that I enjoyed was their love for each other. Like her relationship with her Dad, I felt the author molded Charlie to be a surface lover. She loved Trevor for what and who he was, but not in love with him for what she needs.

It has a few minor little stories that play out at the same time. There is a wonderfully written Aunt Caroline who is a hoarder, suffers from mental illness, and loves Charlie unconditionally. It is people like her that make the author golden to me. I also liked Cody’s mother. She was a complex character that deserved to be in this book.

It is a sure to please romance novel for all!

ONLY a couple of Days left until One to Protect by Tia Louise is released!!

Now is the time to read the other books in the series while we wait for the conclusion to Derek’s and Melissa’s story.

Get One To Hold :By Author Tia Louise
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1hxPd63
iTunes: http://bit.ly/19h9SYq

Get One To Keep: By Tia Louise
Amazon: http://amzn.to/19uGIL6
iTunes: http://bit.ly/1d5hGgL

Add One to Protect to your TBR on Goodreads and watch the trailer
http://vimeo.com/91764757
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20577157-one-to-protect