Sale Blitz: Crash by Stacey Brandon and Karen Bell #contemporaryromance #onsale

Mar10
Title: Crash
Series: Crash Series #1
Author: Stacey Brandon & Karen Bell
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: December 15, 2015
On Sale on Amazon: $1.99 Limited Time
Charli has a plan for her life. It does not include the hot guy at table four. This is the first time she’s seen him at The Crash, the bar where she works most evenings. From the moment he arrives with his power suit, condescending friends, and unnerving stare, he’s hijacked her thoughts. It doesn’t help that he keeps finding ways to insinuate himself into her life. 


Logan has a plan for his life. It does not include the quirky little waitress at the new bar his friends discovered. He has a lot of obligations and very little time. If he needs a female distraction once in awhile, she isn’t the type of woman he normally looks to. Despite all of this, she has become what he wants most of all. 

Working to overcome all the things threatening to separate them won’t be easy. Can they find a way to meet in the middle if it holds the promise of happily ever after? 

This novel is book one in a series of three, but can be read as a “stand-alone” also. It’s a new adult fiction with adult humor and recommended for 18+


I open my eyes and close them back quickly to remedy my mistake. Crap, I forgot to close the curtains again when I fell into bed last night!

I’m sure the intense light falling across my bed is the cause of my waking up before noon on a Sunday. My bar shifts make a normal human schedule next to impossible. As I lie in bed, willing myself to fall back asleep, I hear Liv’s laughter from the living room. That can’t be right.

Looking over at my clock on the bedside table, and seeing it reads only 8:00 a.m., I bolt up with alarm, truly and completely awake. Liv doesn’t do mornings. Has the zombie apocalypse started?

Liv can’t manage getting out of bed at a decent hour even after a night off, much less one where we didn’t leave the bar until three o’clock in the morning. I realize that not only is she awake at this unusual hour, but she sounds chipper. Is she excited at the prospect of taking out the undead? 

Yawning, I rub my eyes and shove my glasses onto my face. Then twisting my long hair into a messy knot on the top of my head as usual, I secure it with one of the ponytail bands I always have around my wrist for emergencies. 

Dodging piles of books, and last night’s discarded work clothes, I lumber toward the unprecedented noises. I have my bedroom door halfway open, and another big yawn stretching out my mouth, when I realize that deep, male laughter is now accompanying Liv’s. What the hell?

Peeking out into our overly bright living space, I squeak. I ******** squeak, and it’s not cute.

It’s too late to back out now, though. They’ve both heard me and whip around to look directly at my open doorway. I register Liv’s calculating grin and she looks rather proud of herself. She’s dead to me now.
With my heart thundering hard and heavy, I feel warmth flood my face and I stand in shocked silence as I identify her morning guest. Logan is here. Logan is here in my apartment.
  
“THAT is what all today’s shit is about? You think I’m dating Victoria?”

“Ummmm… Aren’t you?” My conviction seems to be waning.

“NO!” he explodes. “We work together and sometimes hang out socially with our group of friends, but we’re definitely not together. I don’t want to start dating her either.”

I wonder if he’s lying to me. If so, he’s really good at it. “But, she said she was with you almost every night this past week,” I throw back at him.

“When did you talk to Victoria?”

“I didn’t talk to her actually. I just overheard her at the bar saying she’d been with you.”

“Maybe you should stop eavesdropping!” he explodes.

“Maybe you should stop avoiding telling me why you spent every evening with her, but now say you aren’t dating her!” I cross my arms over my chest, shivering, and stomp my foot for emphasis.

“We’re working on a major business proposal and we’ve had to stay late several times. It’s just because of work. That’s why I haven’t had time to stop by the bar. We are NOT dating!” He throws his arms out wide and glares at me.

I’m relieved and I want to relax back into his warm arms, but I’ve worked myself into such a state of agitation, I can’t calm down. My temper has gotten the best of me and my mouth won’t shut the hell up. “Why not? She’s hot and smart and obviously wants you. Maybe you should!” Am I really suggesting to Logan, a guy that I’m totally lusting after, that he should consider dating someone else? Maybe I’m the one who is bipolar.

“Because I don’t want her, Charli. How can I make it any clearer?” He smiles sweetly and his voice has gone soft. It soothes me and I find I have no desire to yell at him anymore. “You are the person I want to go out with.”  

I swear, my heart has stopped beating. Walking back to where I stand in shock, he pulls me in tight and lowers his face to mine. Our mouths crash together and I think I hear the hallelujah chorus.

Oh, maybe it’s just Liv screaming, “Hallelujah! It’s about time!”

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Once upon a time, these two hookers became best friends…
Stacey Brandon and Karen Bell both live in the same small Texas town on the Gulf Coast, are happily married and the proud Moms of awesome kids. Stacey owns and runs a photography studio and Karen designs and sews her own children’s clothing line. They met over fifteen years ago when they decided to turn one large professional space into a single home for both businesses.

Well, that’s all the boring facts expected to be included in an “about the author” page, right? The reality is so much more fun. Stacey and Karen and their families spend holidays together, travel together… and generally turn every situation into something crazy and chaotic. They are both fluent in English, Sarcasm and Profanity and have decided the irrefutable proof of their best friend status is how often people assume they are “together” when in public. The poor husbands are good sports about it… and might even encourage this misconception at times for sheer entertainment value.


When Karen battled cancer… and kicked its ass… in 2014, they learned to value every day and quit worrying about what others think. Do what you love! Karen is happy to take advantage of the situation though. She loves to remind everyone she “had the CANCER, dammit!” and now she can always and forever claim the last brownie 😉


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Cover Reveal: Other Side by Harlow Paige #romance

Mar4
Title: The Other Side
Series: A Series of Cliches #1
Author: Harlow Paige
Genre: Romance
Release Date: March 21, 2016
True or False: 

From the outside looking in, you can be more objective to someone’s situation.

False!

People only see what you have, thinking your life and marriage are sheer perfection based on your tax bracket. If only they could step inside long enough to see how cracked the foundation truly is. 

True or False: 

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

False!

I firmly believe the only people who speak this nonsense are the ones living a life of contentment. They use this cliche to persuade you from searching for more out of life.

True or False: 

If momma ain’t happy, nobody’s happy.

True!

This momma hasn’t been happy for a long time, and I plan on changing that.

The grass may not be greener on the other side, but if I’m the one mowing the lawn, who the hell cares?!
Prologue

My husband use to refer to the internet as the devil. He trusts nothing that takes place on the screens I’m constantly working from. It’s easy to sit back and judge something you haven’t allowed yourself to explore. I finally broke him out of his no-internet accessing flip phone, and he has now come to the dark side.

 

Where I’m engrossed in social media and keeping up with my readers and fellow authors, he’s now consumed by stupid, childish games that make absolutely no sense to me. He likes to complain and assume the worst on my end, throwing out the fact that he’s kept in the dark and has no clue who I interact with. This is true. I do keep him out of my author world bubble. It’s mine. I don’t want to share it with him. If I allow him to get close enough, I know he’ll pop it. And I’m not ready to fall down to reality. He doesn’t get my “job” and doesn’t even see it as one—although he doesn’t complain when my “job” buys him stuff.

Funny how that works.

 

 

The internet is my office. And a very, very distracting one at times. But it’s a necessity. I wouldn’t be known without it. He doesn’t get it. He has no clue how much work goes into this passion of mine that has turned into a career. The truth of the matter is, he doesn’t support me. So therefore, his mind isn’t open to everything that goes hand in hand with me being an author. All he sees is me on my laptop or phone and he instantly thinks I’m chatting with people—guys—I shouldn’t be.

 

 

 

And maybe I do.
And maybe I shouldn’t.
I’m unhappy. I’ve been this way for a couple years now—since I started writing my books, to be more precise. I didn’t wake up one day and tell myself, “Self, I want to be an author.” I woke up one day realizing I needed more in my life. Not that being a stay at home mother and wife wasn’t satisfying, but it definitely wasn’t quenching my thirst. Something was missing, and I was on a mission to find it. That’s when I discovered writing and that I could write out whatever I wanted and toss it into the black-hole known as the internet and if someone read it, cool.

 

 


 

It felt amazing letting out anything and everything I had on my mind without any expectations in return. Slowly I started gaining readers. It was scary and exciting. There were actually people who wanted to read what I had to say. Why? I didn’t understand it. But as they started conversing with me, one by one, I realized I wasn’t alone in the grand scheme of life. And that felt good. I felt like my purpose had been found. And I planned on embracing it no matter who had my back, which my husband didn’t. But his unsupportiveness didn’t detour me from continuing my writing journey. It wasn’t a choice. It’s my destiny, my future, the passion burned throughout me and I couldn’t extinguish it even if I wanted to. And yes, there have been times I wished I could shut the ideas out. It completes me and gives me a sense of purpose. When a reader tells you that your story moved them, helped them, made them laugh or they related even a tiny bit to something you wrote—it changes you.

 

 


 

And that’s exactly what’s happened to me.

 

 


 

I’ve changed.

 

 


 

And dammit, I like who I’m becoming.

 

 


 

I want to embrace this revolution rising within me. I want to spread my wings and expand my horizons and see where the possibilities of it can one day lead.

 

 


 

But I can’t.

 

 


 

Because I’m stuck.

 

 


 

Being a prisoner to a life of contentment, knowing that you settled and wishing you knew then what you know now is so disheartening. I’m married to someone I wanted by my side from the get go, but wouldn’t grab my hand. Now that he sees me pulling away, knowing I’m unhappy, he’s grasping for my fingertips, trying desperately to slip his fingers between mine and grip with all his might.

 

 


 

But it’s too late. My fingertips are now digging into my hands, forming fists. Him refusing to take the journey with me, not only hardened my stance against him, but also my heart.

 

 


 

I can’t change it. I can’t change the way I feel. I can’t go back to two years ago when I picked up the first book I ever had the urge to read, and warn myself of what would take place once I closed that story with a new outlook on life. And if I could, I’m not sure I’d want to.

 

 


 

I knew it the first time he came over to my apartment and we ended up sleeping together that I was settling. I was compromising who I was, and who I wanted to be—even though I wasn’t sure of who that was.

 

The ironic part of it all is me settling led to my passion. But now I’m in a predicament. Do I stay with the man who loves me, but doesn’t know how to fully support me, and stay unhappy and fake it for the rest of my life…or do I jump bail and find what brings me joy? I already know the answer, but I tried it once. It wasn’t planned out, and in return left me freaking out. I have kids to take care of. I have to be smart instead of jumping on a whim and praying for a safe landing.

 

 


 

Waiting it out shouldn’t be hard, right?

 

 


 

I’m sure most will say it’s me being a horrible wife and that I shouldn’t have put myself in this situation. To an extent, I agree. I know I should leave my husband before flirting with the opposite sex. I know all I’m doing now is flirting with disaster.

 

 


 

I can’t help it…or stop it.

 

 


 

It could all be the f*******g author in me reading into it, writing my own personal whacked out fairytale.

 

 


 

I know people say the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, but something inside me makes me want to test that theory.
Harlow Paige is a known author using a pen to shield her identity (and others) as she writes about her adventures and many, many mishaps in the world of online dating. Her Series of Cliches is bound to resonate within any woman who has jumped back into the dating saddle. No worries if single-hood doesn’t apply to you. This series will be full of real life honesty, as Harlow twists her life experiences with a bit of fiction to keep the reader guessing. Everyone who joins in on this adventure will be able to relate in some form, and if not, will still be rooting her on along the way.


Harlow asks that all willing participants please keep their hands, feet and legs inside the ride at all times. Your safety… and ENJOYMENT is her number one goal. 

Hold on tight—you’re in for one helluva ride!

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I ♥ all the Books Tour: Interview with Hesitation Wounds author @AmyLKoppelman

Feb25

The acclaimed author of I Smile Back, Amy Koppelman is a novelist of astonishing power, with a sly, dark voice, at once fearless and poetic. In Koppelman’s new novel, Dr. Susanna Seliger is a renowned psychiatrist who specializes in treatment-resistant depression. The most difficult cases come through her door, and Susa is always ready to discuss treatment options, medication, and symptom management but draws the line at engaging with feelings. A strict adherence to protocol keeps her from falling apart.

But her past is made present by one patient, Jim, whose struggles tear open Susa’s hastily stitched up wounds, revealing her latent feeling that she could have helped the people closest to her, especially her adored, cool, talented graffiti-artist brother. Spectacularly original, gorgeously unsettling,HESITATION WOUNDS is a novel that will sink deep and remain—like a persistent scar or a dangerous glow-in-the-dark memory.

Thanks Amy Koppelman for taking the time to answer a few questions!

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

When I was a little girl I wanted to be a writer. The first contest I entered was an essay contest sponsored by The Daughters of the American Revolution. I didn’t win but I remember my name being called at the spring assembly and walking up onto the stage in the multi purpose room of our elementary school. I remember I was wearing a lavender smock dress and I remember feeling proud. Just for entering. I kept the participation certificate taped to my bedroom wall for years and years. In fact, I don’t think I took it down until after I graduated college and we sold our house. Anyway, for many reasons I kinda put the writing thing aside until I was in my early twenties. I kinda became a writer by accident. I had gone through a really bad period of depression and as I got better I began to write, so for me writing was and remains a receptacle for sadness. I purge my ugliest thoughts and feelings onto the page which is a vast improvement from my old style of purging.

What is your quirkiest writing ritual?

I don’t have a ritual really. I wish I did but I kinda fumble along.

When did you write your first book and how old were you?

I was 30 by the time I finished the first draft of my first book. I started writing it at 25. It takes me about 7 years to finish. Hesitation Wounds took nine. I’m very slow (one of the reasons I need to get myself a ritual! :))

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Well I have the most fun when I’m with my family but if I can’t be with them well – well I love watching TV. A big bowl of ice cream. An even bigger bowl of popcorn. A juicy plot. Almost nothing is more fun. And I’m not a snob about it. I love Mad Men but I also have a great time watching Vampire Diaries. When I’m especially anxious I binge watch. The month before Hesitation Wounds came out—FIVE seasons of Homeland.

Where did you get your idea for this book?
Most of the time my stories begin with a feeling. When I started Hesitation Wounds I knew I was writing about grief: how we recover from unbearable loss or perhaps more importantly why we bother recovering. Why we bother to continue. I also knew that I was telling a story about a brother and sister who loved each other –loved each other as much and as purely as it’s possible to love. But that’s all I knew when I started. I had faith that the characters would reveal themselves and slowly (it took about a year) but surely the characters did reveal themselves.

What do you think makes a good story?

I’m not sure how to answer this because there are so many different kinds of stories. I think if you’re writing a suspenseful story plot is vital. With magical realism being able to transport the reader to an alternate universe makes all the difference. For me, the stories I like most are fueled by emotional honesty. I am drawn to a character’s journey. How they see the world, how that world effects them and invariably the people they love.

What was the hardest part in writing this book?

The hardest part for me was figuring out the structure. I wanted to write a memory book meaning a book that mimicked memory. Memory isn’t linear. It’s also not always played out in scene. Bits and pieces flash through our mind. Subverted feelings appear in the dark. A detail: a red mug on the kitchen table. In addition I wanted to balance the whole novel on the last scene in the book: when Susa is deciding if she should stick out her tongue and taste the snow. I wanted to show how everything in her life, how everything in all of our lives, informs even the smallest of decisions. The problem doesn’t take longer than a second or two to decide and it simply wasn’t long enough to balance a whole story on. Ultimately I settled upon a single day-specifically the five/six hours it takes from Susa to journey with Mai from her apartment to the graveyard where she visits her brother.

 

 

Amy Koppelman Bio:
Amy Koppelman is a graduate of Columbia’s MFA program. Her writing has appeared in The New York Observer and Lilith. She lives in New York City with her husband, Brian Koppelman, and their two children. Her previous novels are A Mouthful of Air and I Smile Back, slated for the Toronto Film Festival and general release in Fall 2015.
Amy also wrote ‘I Smile Back’ which was adapted into a film in 2015 starring actress/comedian Sarah Silverman. Sarah was recently nominated for a SAG award based on her performance of Laney.


You can see the movie trailer for ‘I Smile Back’ here: https://youtu.be/YIBqq-AQcE0

Guest Post by Author Eliza Green @elizagreenbooks #exilon5series #dystopian @k8tilton

Feb17

Welcome author Eliza Green for being my guest today. Eliza is author of  Becoming Human: A Dystopian Post Apocalyptic Novel

ElizaGreenprofile

Movie review – Brooklyn

I went to see Brooklyn several weeks ago, before it was tipped for an Oscar. Yes, I was probably one of the few who didn’t go to see a movie based on upcoming awards shows! The story begins in dear old Ireland in a town called Enniscorthy. Our protagonist, Eilis, (pronounced Eye- Leesh) played by Saoirse Ronan (pronounced Surr-Shah) is doing what most girls in Ireland did in the fifties: work in a dead end job in the local shop until they get married and repopulate the earth with dozens of children because Ireland, unofficially ruled by the Catholic Church back then, didn’t believe in contraception until women rebelled in the 80’s/early 90’s and the government were forced to bring it in.

So poor old Eilis is stuck in a town where the men are either farmers or mummy’s boys. She is offered the opportunity to live in America through an Irish priest and a church-funded scholarship. (Don’t judge Ireland too harshly by “Spotlight”s standards. Not all Irish priests were/are bad.) The priest is played by English actor, Jim Broadbent. He’s actually quite good so we’ll forgive the director for using non-Irish actors!

Eilis leaves behind a cranky mother and a supportive sister to live in a boarding house in Brooklyn with several other girls hell bent on mischief and a no nonsense house mother played by the excellent Julie Walters (not Irish, but that’s okay. Her accent and attitude is spot on :))

So poor Eilis is living the plain life in Brooklyn while her house sisters are living it up. Things change when she meets tough Italian plumber, Tony (aren’t all Italian Americans called Tony? :D) played by Emory Cohen. There’s a little bit of playfulness between the pair, which is refreshing as Ireland in the 1940’s didn’t have much of that. Things go well until Eilis receives a call that demands she return to Ireland.

brooklyn-movie-2

This does not bode well for her relationship with Tony. She goes home with the promise to return to America and Tony, and settles back into her old life there. Her cloying mother and the claustrophobic town gets under her skin and the locals take a dislike to her colourful clothes (clothes in Ireland back then were brown, grey or black). She meets another man called Jim (why, oh why didn’t she meet him the first time? Things are getting complicated!).

Jim is played by the charismatic Domhnall Gleeson (pronounced Dough –nal). So Eilis has a tough decision to make. Should she stay or should she go?

Nick Hornby, a UK screenwriter (About A Boy and High Fidelity, two super movies), did a good job adapting this movie from Colm Toibín’s (last name pronounced Toe-Bean) book of the same name. It’s hard to capture the essence of the Irish. Many people try to do it, but most fail. There’s a unique quirkiness about our humour that can only be explained by someone who understands it. Nick does a good job!

My verdict? Slow moving movie, but it showcases some great moments of humour, sadness and unfortunate Irish bigotry in the form of the local shop keeper in Enniscorthy.

About Eliza Green

Eliza Green tried her hand at fashion designing, massage, painting, and even ghost hunting, before finding her love of writing. She often wonders if her desire to change the ending of a particular glittery vampire story steered her in that direction (it did). After earning her degree in marketing, Eliza went on to work in  everything but marketing, but swears she uses it in everyday life, or so she tells her bank manager.

Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, she lives there with her sci-fi loving, evil genius boyfriend. When not working on her next amazing science fiction adventure, you can find her reading, indulging in new food at an amazing restaurant or simply singing along to something with a half decent beat.

Becoming Human

Tasked with determining the threat level on Exilon 5, Bill Taggart hunts the alien he believes murdered his wife. But what he learns about the race living there forces him to rethink everything he believes.BecomingHuman

Book Details:
Rating: 4.2 stars with 129 reviews
Pages: 359 pages
Release Date: December 18, 2012
Age: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction/ Dystopian​
Formats for review: ebook (.mobi, .epub, .pdf), print

Becoming Human: Buy links

http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Human-Exilon-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00AOBIRIW

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/becoming-human-eliza-green/1114844018?ean=2940044371064

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/becoming-human/id621107993?mt=11

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/becoming-human

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/294429

Author Links

Website: http://www.elizagreenbooks.com

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/elizagreenbooks

Twitter: @elizagreenbooks

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6859728.Eliza_Green

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/elizagreenbooks/

Books: http://elizagreenbooks.com/books/

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Eliza-Green/e/B00AOJRHH6/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3?qid=1453404220&sr=8-3

Grab a free book!: http://smarturl.it/fmeuqq

 

 

A Woman’s Worth by @AudraNorth #romance

Feb13
Title: A Woman’s Worth
Series: Close Quarters Book 1
Author: Audra North 
Genre: Erotic Romance
Release Date: February 9, 2016
Chantal Jones is going through a rough patch. A divorced single mother to two demanding boys, she’s constantly putting the needs of others before her own. She’s exhausted, and the only thing that fuels her fantasies these days is her sexy, off-limits boss, Ronan Nakata. 
Ronan has definitely noticed how attractive Chantal is, but he’s her employer and their relationship has to remain strictly professional. Besides, he isn’t looking for anything serious and the last thing he wants to do is get emotionally involved. 
But when a chance encounter in the company elevator leaves them both strung tight and wanting, taking it to the next level is seemingly inevitable. In such close quarters, will they be able to get their attraction out of their systems without losing their hearts?

Chantal Jones was tired.
Work had eaten her up today. By the time she’d arrived at the elementary school to pick up Luke and Owen from their afterschool program, it had taken every last ounce of her control to keep from screaming when the instructor complained that her children had been shooting spitballs at the ceiling.
Their afterschool teacher had pursed his mouth and stared at her chest as he told her, “They will not be allowed to return to my classroom until I see a formal written apology for their behavior, Mrs. Jones.”
She’d had to fight the urge to punch him in the neck. Not because she thought he was lying about her kids. Chantal didn’t doubt her boys had been acting up. Ever since the divorce, they’d been behaving this way. But a written apology? This guy was the one who should be writing an apology to her. Making her boys write an apology meant more time out of her day, supervising their work, when she could have just as effectively dealt with their behavior by taking away a week of screen time.
Besides, the guy was a sleazy asshole who’d been ogling her breasts since the first day, and sometimes he liked to stand too close so his chest brushed hers. It made her cringe just to think of it.
Except this was the only program that offered care until six thirty, and even then she was sometimes late to pick them up. Even if she could manage the five o’clock pickup time for all the other programs, they were already two months into the semester. Too late to transfer the boys into another class, and they were too young to be at home alone.
Their teacher had her pinned to the proverbial wall and he knew it. Liked it, no doubt.
It made her feel even more alone and exhausted. The scolding she’d given the kids on the car ride home was weak. She was simply too tired, and they’d ignored her.
She pulled into the drive and parked the car, then glanced in the rear view mirror. “Remember to take your—”
Bang! Bang!
Both back doors slammed shut.
They’d jumped out, leaving their backpacks in the car, and were already running to the front door of the Victorian house where they lived.
Chantal sighed. She always loved her children, but from time to time, she really hated them too.
It was difficult not to fume as she’d walked down the driveway to check the mail. Several bills. A lingerie catalog.
“Yeah, right.” She snorted and flipped past it to find an envelope from the law firm she’d used for her divorce.
“Oh.” It came out as more of a squeak than an actual word. She broke the seal on the envelope and pulled out the document, reading only the first couple of lines before folding it and sticking it back into the stack of mail.
Her ten-year marriage was truly over.
The roller coaster of an emotional mess she’d been on lately plummeted, a fast and sickening drop she hadn’t seen coming. She uttered a prayer of thanks that the boys had already gone inside. If they’d seen the way she was having to fight back her tears right now, they would refuse to go to Mike’s this weekend. And if they refused, it would escalate into yet another shouting match with her sonofabitch ex-husband that would no doubt make her want to crawl into bed for days. As it was, she simply wiped her eyes, squared her shoulders, and headed into the house with what had to be the world’s craziest fake smile plastered on her face.
“Boys!” She could hear the electronic music from a game on the PlayStation coming from the next room. Chantal dropped her smile and rolled her eyes. There was a strict weekends-only rule for the stupid thing. Mike had bought it for them a couple of months before she’d found out about the affair, and she hated it for way too many reasons to count.
She slipped out of her shoes in front of the door and strode into the den, where the boys were standing with their faces in front of the TV, eyes glued to the screen. Without hesitation, she clicked the TV off and removed the cable from the console so they couldn’t play anymore.
“Hey!” Luke’s eyes were wide and angry, his wiry body stiff with rage. Chantal was about to remind them of the weekend rule when he threw his controller at her, the hard plastic connecting with her forearm. She screamed in pain, ducking her chin and jerking her arm up to cradle it against her chest.
Holy shit, that hurt.
“Mommy. Mommy, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Mommy, I didn’t mean to I was mad and it was an accident and I—” She looked up to see Luke standing inches from her, his face pinched in concern. He was already crying—worried, frustrated tears falling down his still-chubby cheeks.
Owen had backed up to the wall, staring wide-eyed at his mom and brother. Luke’s arms were extended, but he wasn’t quite touching her, as though he were afraid she might turn him away.
What the hell had happened to her family?
The anger fell away and she pulled Luke to her, hugging him tightly. “I forgive you, sweetie. I forgive you.”
He cried in earnest then, great sobs rolling out of his body as she cuddled him and her arm throbbed. She’d known he was having a hard time with the divorce. Luke had always been a hotbed of emotion, but instead of the intense joy he used to show so readily, this past year he’d been constantly lashing out with anger. And to top it all off, being a single mom meant she had to work to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table, but it also meant there was no energy left for them when she got home from a long day.
God. How much longer could they go on like this?

Audra North is the contemporary romance author of the Pushing the Boundaries series from Samhain and the Hard Driving series from St. Martin’s. Sign up for Audra North’s newsletter to get free books, extra scenes, and exclusive subscriber giveaways. You can also connect with Audra on her website, AudraNorth.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

 

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