Seven years ago, my world
ended.
Seven years later, my new life
began.
It's been seven years
since Lexi Knight lost her brother
in a tragic accident. On the anniversary of his death, her brother's best friend
shows up unexpectedly - a man she hasn't seen since the funeral. He is no longer
the boy Lexi once knew, but a
dangerous-looking man with tattoos and dark secrets. He broke her trust and
abandoned her family, yet what he reveals makes it impossible to stay
angry. Lexi has been secretly
infatuated with Austin since childhood, so finding out he's a Shifter just makes
him sexier. Dammit.
Austin Cole has returned
to the city where he grew up, and just in time. He's lived a hard life these
past seven years, and the shadows of his past are threatening to
destroy Lexi's family. It's time
that she learned the truth about her brother, but there is a shocking twist that
Austin never saw coming. Now he must protect her family when her mother and
sister wind up in mortal danger. Will Lexi learn to accept the truth about who he is, and can Austin salvage a
relationship from the ruins of their past?
******** EXCERPT ********
The
closer I snuggled up to Austin, the more I craved that cozy familiarity—more
than I would have cared to admit. I’d missed him. How do you not miss someone
who was a huge chunk of your childhood and young-adult life who disappeared off
the face of the earth? Almost every memory I had from kindergarten to age twenty
involved Austin Cole.
The
next thing I knew, my cheek rested on his bicep and I tucked my body against his
like a puzzle piece. Just when I closed my heavy eyelids, he
groaned.
Oh God, please don’t let him wake up now.
It was
deep and guttural, and he shifted on his right side, facing
me.
“You
okay?” he murmured.
I
didn’t reply. I played dead and pretended I was asleep. It seemed like a good
plan to avoid the embarrassment of explaining why I was latched on to him like a
man-sucking leech.
A
rough, warm hand cupped my cheek and I felt him scoot down a little. Maybe he
thought I had fallen asleep, because his thumb brushed over my right eyelid
softly.
Five times. I counted.
When
his lips lightly touched mine, my brain just shut down. It was a soft, almost
nonexistent kiss, but I felt it all the way down to my toes. Then it zinged back
up to my hips and damn if I didn’t moan.
Now we
were both aware I wasn’t asleep and he was kissing me. But it didn’t stop. His
kiss pressed a little bit harder and tingles roared through my body, and my
breath was shaky and erratic.
When
his tongue touched my lip, I quickly opened my mouth and kissed him
back.
Hard.
Deep.
Kissed him like I’d
fantasized about doing for the last seven years.
This is the segment where you learn a little more
about who I am, so here's what I can
tell you: I drink copious amounts of vitamin water placed precariously close to
my laptop while writing. These are two healthy habits I have no intention of
breaking. I'm a transplant living in the south, but I was born in the 70's to a
military dad who moved us around the world.
When I'm not writing (which is
all the time), I'm hunting down Indie music, watching movies, reading, eating
Tex-Mex, discovering new ways to humiliate myself bowling, and burning up my
laptop battery on the Internet. I have a relaxed, easy-going personality and
don't like drama. I live with a cat who thinks she is a dog, or a goat (she eats
plastic, so I'm not sure which).
Throughout my life, I've had
insomnia. Counting sheep never worked and eventually I would imagine those sheep
were the sole source of food after an apocalyptic battle where only thousands
survived. I made up stories in a futile attempt to bore myself to sleep. The
problem was, I got so wrapped up in my "head stories" that I would continue them
through the following nights, changing it up each time to make it more exciting.
Eventually, I started writing my ideas down - creating short stories, and then I
discovered my love for poetry.
It's almost embarrassing how
many spiral notebooks and stacks of paper I have of poetry and
lyrics.
Another passion: digital art. I
design all my book covers, marketing, and series art. I'm a very visual person
and pursued photography as an avid hobby for many years.
I am not a YA author (I feel
like I have to state this only because I've had a few people ask), but I think
it's wonderful there are so many books available to teens in Urban Fantasy and
Paranormal.
I am finally doing what I have
always wanted to do: giving my characters a pulse through writing full time. I
focus on adult urban fantasy romance, but I don't like labels and I enjoy
blending genres to break out of the confines of predictability.
But it's what I love to
do.
Danni
Hope Richards has only ever known the life of a big city girl. When her boss gives her an ultimatum, she decides to try out the country life during her forced vacation. After falling in love with a mysterious old mansion on the edge of a town that time forgot, Hope finds herself caught up in a whirlwind of someone else's crazy love obsession, and realizes in the middle of it all how lacking her own life is in that department. Hope is faced with a decision: return to the mundane life she thought was her passion, or find a way to experience something far stronger that she secretly yearns for.
