Carries Book Reviews

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A Not So Bollywood Meet Cute
Miya Malai
Publication date: January 6th 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Katrina Shah just wants out of the fame game, away from her high-profile family’s drama. But dodging the spotlight? Tough luck. Especially when she collides with Hollywood’s golden boy, Evan Kristof. Her heart doesn’t seem to have received the memo to steer clear of him.

Evan’s used to the spotlight, the parties, the glitz. Yet, he’s craving a break, some peace. Then he meets Katrina, and suddenly, tranquility’s the last thing on his mind.

As they both try to escape their pasts, sparks fly between the girl who wants anonymity and the movie star. But can they navigate crazy families, an over-the-top wedding, and their undeniable chemistry without getting burned? Their fling might just turn into something much bigger than they bargained for.

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

And now Evan is standing there, his soft gaze burning me, as he takes in everything, my jewelry, my low-cut top, my pierced belly button. He steps closer and I turn around, ready to run again. I hear a small gasp escape from him, as he sees the back of my dress, or lack of.

And as I take a step forward, a smug smile on my face, I feel a tug on my dupatta. I turn around and he is gripping it with a playful smile. Right now, at this very moment, I feel like it’s just me and him alone in this hall of hundreds of people. I bite my lower lip, begin playing with my necklace, and slide my hand to my cleavage slightly.

When he’s completely distracted, staring at my boobs with his mouth slightly open, I pull my dupatta out of his now-loosened grip. As I’m walking at a fast pace, I glance around at the crowd and everyone is so busy enjoying the night, no one notices us.

That gives me the confidence to go behind a column, into a secluded corner, where the curtains separate us from the other guests. He’s following close behind. And I’m leaning against the wall.

He ducks into the little corner, his hand goes on my bare waist, the other bracing the wall by my head. He kisses my neck, and I close my eyes as my stomach flutters—I feel myself already wet. He’s licking me right below my earring, kissing and biting my neck.

And just as I’m contemplating whether to ruin my lipstick and kiss him, the DJ stops the music and makes an announcement.

“Everyone please take your seats,” he says through the speakers. “The bride and groom are about to enter.” Evan pulls his head back and raises an eyebrow.

“I’ll go first,” I whisper. I make to leave, but he grabs my wrist.

“You look beautiful tonight,” he says, looking into my eyes. “And I thought I’d never fall for a white man in Indian clothes,” I say back . . . I bite my lip and put a hand over his heart. “It’s sexy.”

And cue 3:06 of “Yeh Ladka Hai Allah,” because that’s exactly how he’s looking at me right now. And I’m about to maul him right here and now, but my family is probably waiting for me for Amir and Bianca’s entrance. My eyes linger on him, with a regretful look, and then I sneak out of our little corner.

 

Author Bio:

Miya Malai was a second-generation confused brown girl with conservative parents, who would have looked at Bridgerton with horror. But little did they know she would sneak Julia Quinn books from the library when she was in high school. She grew up with DDLJ playing at least once a week in her Dadi’s bedroom. And she longed for her favorite Bollywood heroine’s character to be in a book. After years of scouring through smutty romance novels, she thought she’d combine her two favorites on her own.

Miya wants to empower the voice of brown girls struggling with stigmas in the South Asian community, while also appreciating the culture.

When Miya isn’t writing, she’s drinking chai or spending time with her husband and three young children on Long Island, NY.

You can find her online as Miya Malai on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.

Instagram / Twitter / TikTok

 

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The Secret of Sweet Treats Kingdom
Kim Davis
(The Board Game Chronicles, #1)
Publication date: January 30th 2024
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Middle-Grade

Book includes a fun recipe for kids!

Amber Addison is fed up with her kindergartener sister. It’s Ava’s fault she’s missing her best friend’s birthday party, the most anticipated event in their sixth-grade class. To make matters worse, Ava has coerced her into playing Sweet Treats board game and she keeps losing to a five-year-old. When Amber’s irritation gets the best of her, she throws the game, destroying it.

As the board disintegrates, the two girls are swept into a swirling vortex and they find themselves in the middle of Sweet Treats kingdom. Ava is kidnapped by an evil queen, and Amber finds herself relying on a mint-green rabbit to help her find her way to Bonbon Castle with the hope of finding her sister. Along the way, she encounters more sweets than she could ever eat along with fantastical beings. Some will become her friend and others create danger that she must survive in order to save her sister and find their way home.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

A rumbling sound filled my ears and the ground started tilting and rolling. The light hanging over the dining room table began swaying and the wood mini-blinds rubbing against the windows sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard.

“Amber?” Ava grabbed my hand and held on tight.

“Don’t worry. It’s just an earthquake.” Growing up in Southern California you got used to this kind of thing. “Remember what they taught you at school? Drop, cover, and hold on?”

I pulled her toward the dining room table to hide beneath it, although I was positive by the time we got into position the quake would be over.

We were ten steps away from the table when Ava stopped walking. She yanked my arm and started pulling me backward, toward the family room. I heard the crash of glass breaking on the kitchen tile and was glad I had flip-flops on. Our family portrait fell from the dining room wall, the

glass splintering from the black frame sent shards of glass flying across the room. A small piece caught my ankle, sending a sting up my leg.

“Knock it off, shrimp. We need to get under the table right now!” While I had been in several earthquakes, this felt different. It wasn’t slowing or stopping, like I thought it would. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was scared. Could this be the “big one” grownups talked about?

Instead of letting me lead her toward the dining table, Ava began pulling me harder toward the family room. With my feet sliding on the slick tile, I couldn’t stop.

“What’s that?” I had never heard my sister screech like that before, so I turned around to see what she was talking about.

The small fragments of the Sweet Treats board game were hovering in midair, swirling in a circle, going faster and faster. The floor tilted us toward the flying pieces, and we were slipping toward the growing whirlwind. The edge of the vortex was expanding outward at a rapid rate, while the center was a dark, black hole. It looked like a giant vacuum hose, and it was sucking us toward it.

My terrified sister started screaming, clinging to my legs. “Do something, Amber!”

I started shrieking as I tripped over Ava, and we were pulled head first into the middle of the vortex.

 

Author Bio:

Kim Davis lives in Southern California with her husband and mini Goldendoodle puppy, Missy. When she’s not spending time with her granddaughters or chasing the puppy around, she can be found either writing on her next book, or working on her blog, Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder, or in the kitchen baking up yummy treats to share.

She also writes the Cupcake Catering cozy mystery series, the Aromatherapy Apothecary Mystery series, The Board Game Chronicles middle grade series, and a suspense novel, A Game of Deceit, written under K. A. Davis, along with several children’s nature articles in a variety of magazines.

Kim Davis is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub

 

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Not too terribly much to share this week but I still have five new titles I just couldn’t pass by. My towering TBR is only bending a bit but I’m sure a big gust of wind would be problem so I guess I need to read and then read some more!

As always clicking the covers will take you to the book on Amazon!**

New additions from Netgalley Feb 11th  – Feb 18th

Beware what waits in the shadows…

With one unexpected email from her estranged best friend, Lucy, Mina Murray’s carefully curated life is turned upside down. Leaving behind her psychiatric practice in London, along with her routine and the calm it brings, she returns to the windswept shores of Wales. Faced with everything she’s left behind, she soon discovers that Lucy’s symptoms mirror those of her mysterious patient with amnesia hundreds of miles away.

With nothing but an untreatable sickness connecting the two women, and with Lucy’s life on the line, Mina finds herself asking questions and being drawn ever-deeper into a web of secrets, missing girls, and the powerful, nameless force at its center—one that has been haunting her for years.

As terrible, ancient truths begin to reveal themselves, Mina prepares to confront her own darkest secrets, and with them, an evil beyond comprehension. Together with a group of smart, savvy women, Mina seizes one last, desperate chance to stop the cycle that began so long ago. But there are dangers to inviting the attentions of what might not be a man, but a monster…

This heart-warming second chance love story about hope and healing from USA Today bestselling author Annie Rains is perfect for fans of Raeanne Thayne and Jenny Hale!

For a gardener blessed with a green thumb, Savannah Collins’s life sure seems like it’s all thorns, zero roses. She has no job, no relationship, and no place to live. With nothing but a car full of plants and her new rescue kitten, Savannah heads to Bloom, North Carolina, to spend the summer with her beloved Aunt Eleanor, a retired librarian.

Her aunt shares her love of literature with the Finders Keepers Library, located in her beautiful garden, where anyone can stop by to pick a book or leave a book. When a sudden summer storm destroys the library and many of the roses, it will take a village to get everything ready for the garden wedding that is planned there in just three weeks.

As the entire town joins in to make the necessary repairs, Savannah bonds with their neighbor Evan Sanders over the books that Eleanor has handpicked for each of them, helping them both find healing and self-discovery. Savannah only intends to stay through the summer, but when an unexpected job offer, a sudden health crisis, and a wayward pre-teen push her future in new directions, she has to wonder whether this is the place that she is meant to be—and the family she’s meant to be with.

Following the success of her unputdownable debut, Escape Room, Maren Stoffels is back with a new standalone horror novel about a twisted game master who has no intention of letting their players go.

“You have been chosen to participate in a new Escape Room. You can bring one person. The one you trust the most. Your very best friend.”

When Lexi receives an invitation to participate in a brand-new escape room, along with her best friend Tess, she’s thrilled. They could both use the distraction after a recent tragedy. 

But once inside, they learn that they must compete against one another.

What do you do when your best friend suddenly becomes your biggest adversary, and every choice you make puts her in danger? How far will you go to win?

Two best friends who haven’t spoken in ten years pretend to date after break-ups with their respective exes go viral, in this delightfully fun and deeply emotional new novel from New York Times bestselling author Emma Lord.

June and Levi were best friends as teenagers—until the day they weren’t. Now June is struggling to make rent on her beachside tea shop, Levi is living a New York cliché as a disillusioned hedge fund manager and failed novelist, and they’ve barely spoken in years.

But after they both experience public, humiliating break-ups with their exes that spread like wildfire across TikTok rabbit holes and daytime talk shows alike, they accidentally make some juicy gossip of their own—a photo of them together has the internet convinced they’re a couple. With so many people rooting for them, they decide to put aside their rocky past and make a pact to fuel the fire. Pretending to date will help June’s shop get back on its feet and make Levi’s ex realize that she made a mistake. All they have to do is convince the world they’re in love, one swoon-worthy photo opp at a time.

Two viral break-ups. One fake relationship. Five sparkling, heart-pounding dates. June and Levi can definitely pull this off without their hearts getting involved. Because everyone knows fake dating doesn’t come with real feelings. Right?

A secret buried in Cuba—and a pair of down-on-their-luck Florida journalists following a trail of smoke and mirrors to dig it up in a twisty short story by a New York Times bestselling author.

Who are cash-strapped George and Jay to say no to a stranger’s offer of $10,000? The gig: fly to Havana and retrieve the old gent’s “family valuables,” hidden in Cuba since the Revolution. All expenses paid. At their disposal is a safe place to stay, a driver, a crudely drawn map, and a translator and guide. And what a guide. She’s a knockout named Carmen, lush and movie-star gorgeous. But their lady in Havana arrives with a warning: Trust no one. To say the least. Because nothing on this scavenger hunt is what it seems. George and Jay are unearthing more than they bargained for, and something few would ever believe—if they live to tell about it.

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

Title: The Framed Women of Ardemore House

Author: Brandy Schillace

Publisher: Hanover Square Press

Publication Date: February 13, 2024

Page Count:  355

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

An abandoned English manor. A peculiar missing portrait. A cozy, deviously clever murder mystery, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Anthony Horowitz.

Jo Jones has always had a little trouble fitting in. As a neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor and divorced New Yorker transplanted into the English countryside, Jo doesn’t know what stands out more: her Americanisms or her autism.

After losing her job, her mother, and her marriage all in one year, she couldn’t be happier to take possession of a possibly haunted (and clearly unwanted) family estate in North Yorkshire. But when the body of the moody town groundskeeper turns up on her rug with three bullets in his back, Jo finds herself in potential danger—and she’s also a potential suspect. At the same time, a peculiar family portrait vanishes from a secret room in the manor, bearing a strange connection to both the dead body and Jo’s mysterious family history.

With the aid of a Welsh antiques dealer, the morose local detective, and the Irish innkeeper’s wife, Jo embarks on a mission to clear herself of blame and find the missing painting, unearthing a slew of secrets about the town—and herself—along the way. And she’ll have to do it all before the killer strikes again…

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon  /   BookShop.org  / Barnes & Noble  / Books A Million 

Excerpt:

The Framed Women of Ardemore House

CHAPTER ONE

The house was enormous. Jo didn’t know enough about local architecture to date it, but the walls stretched up in the damp air, big and dark and lichen flecked. Windows had been boarded up; they wept black mildew creases over sandstone sills. Staring through the car window, Jo dropped her eyes down to the stairs, flanked by columns where Jo imagined regal statues might have stood. Or ought to have stood. 

“It’s…a castle,” she whispered. 

“It is most certainly not a castle,” said Rupert Selkirk, solicitor of Selkirk and Associates, in the driver’s seat beside her. “Not even the largest house in Abington.” 

Solicitor. Jo rolled the word around in her mouth. She’d pocket it for later rumination; it was nice to have a word for chewing on. It suggested antique leather chairs and brass lampstands, felt safer than divorce lawyer, and didn’t trigger the same sort of gut gripe. Rupert looked exactly as a solicitor ought to, with a high forehead, disappearing hairline, and two very bushy eyebrows. He also drove a puddle-green sedan with the steering wheel on the wrong side of Jo’s expectations. She wondered if the sense of dislocation would fade with the jet lag. It hadn’t exactly improved her first impressions. She forgot to introduce herself, forgot the handshake, stared in absolute stunned silence at the landscape as they drove.

Online pictures had suggested something endlessly green, but the reality was wet and ragged, browned out from the end of winter and laced at the edges with naked tree branches. Jo squinted into the distance, taking in the brackish heath, then trees, then fog. A cluster of trees appeared, lanky pin oaks and a few copper beeches. A crumbling dry-stone wall snaked away from decayed posts; no fence, but the remnants of one. She let her eyes wander its length to a dark smudge of woodland and black bark dotted with lichen. The rest of the hill loomed treeless, stark, and scarred by eruptions of additional stone. Moors, she thought. Endless and rolling with dry heather and wet peat.

Jo had pressed herself to the glass, ignoring the steam prints she made. She hadn’t brought much with her—certainly not her books. But Wuthering Heights might have been a good choice. Relaxation breathing had never been much use to her; whenever she consciously thought about autonomic responses, they went all wrong. So she mentally recited the opening lines of the novel as the car grumbled to a halt in the shadow of Ardemore House. As for Rupert, he was repeating himself.

“—Not a castle. The house is wider than it is deep, mostly to take advantage of the south-facing aspect.” Seeing the blank look on Jo’s face, he tried again. “In England, south-facing gardens get the most sun. That’s where you’ll find the Ardemore Gardens. They were the highlight of the property, once. Overgrown now, I’m afraid.” Rupert swept his hand across the horizon as if bisecting it. “Everything east of here is rented for grazing livestock. There is also, as you know, the cottage. It helps defray the tax burden.”

Tax burden. She might want to hold on to those words, too.

“Emery Lane, my assistant, will be drawing up papers while we walk the property,” he said. Jo was starting to run out of processing space, internally. She felt a hiccup of emotion and press-ganged it into a smile.

“Papers?”

“For you to sign. To take over the property as your inheritance.”

The smile failed. Better say something like yes, good. Quite. Exactly the thing. But Rupert got there first, offering her a hand out of the passenger seat.

“Your mother always spoke very warmly of you, by the way. I was very sorry to hear of her passing.”

At these words, Jo quietly abandoned her pursuit of professionalism.

“Y-yeah. I got the card. Thanks.”

Rupert was still looking at her. She could tell, but wasn’t about to look back. She took in the house, instead, this not-castle that rose straight out of bracken and into a cloud bank.

“I want to go inside,” she said. Rupert joined her across the weedy lawn.

“I thought we would see the cottage first. It’s at least habitable.”

He didn’t seem to understand; Jo was standing in front of Wuthering Heights, and no, she did not want to go poke around a cottage. Not yet.

“Inside,” she said. “Please.” Rupert sighed.

“All right. But have proper expectations. This property has been vacant for a century, at least since at least 1908.”

Now in front of the door, Jo furrowed her brow as Rupert hunted for the right key. That was a surprise, actually. And it didn’t make sense.

“But you said my uncle Aiden had the property? In your email—”

“Ah, but he did not live on-site. Had a flat in York, and—” Rupert stopped abruptly and stumbled back. Jo followed his gaze to see a pair of bright eyes peering back at them through the glass.

“Jesus!”

“Tut, now.” Rupert waved his hand airily. “That’s only Sid Randles, caretaker.”

A moment later, and the man himself opened the door. Lean, lanky, all arms, legs, and a shock of red hair. Attractive in the way of highwaymen and pirates, he was either a very well-kept forty-something, or thirty gone to seed. He was also blocking the way.

“Here’s a surprise,” he said. “This the American, then?”

“Yes. Sid Randles, meet Josephine Black,” Rupert offered.

“Jones,” Jo corrected. “It’s Jo Jones now. I mean, again.” Jo faltered slightly, then dutifully stuck her hand out. Sid tucked an industrial-grade flashlight under his arm and gave her a shake, then squeezed her palm.

“Sounds like an alias,” he said.

“Jo Jones was an American Jazz drummer of the Count Basie Orchestra rhythm section from 1934 to 1948,” Jo said, then puckered her lips as if that would bring the words back. Sid eyed her a minute, then let out a yelp of laughter, and not very kindly.

“Ms. Jones would like a tour. Sid, will you do the honors, please?” Rupert checked his wristwatch. “I need to take this call and there’s no signal inside.” He turned away, and Sid grinned at Jo, one crooked canine slipping over his lip like a storybook fox.

“There’s no electricity,” he said.

“I figured that’s why you have the flashlight,” Jo said, pointing. Imagining him as Reynard from the French fables had done wonders for her confidence. She could almost imagine the swish of his irritated tail.

“Fine, fine. Come on in.” He backed into the hall. “Hope you don’t mind the smell.”

It would be hard to miss it. A puff of musty air assaulted Jo’s nostrils on entering—a wet, rotten odor. The windows were boarded, and in the slanted peek-a-boo light she could just make out the ghost of a table, a phantom of chairs in the foyer. Sid swept the light across the hall from a dust-webbed staircase to a grand room that opened off their left.

“You’ll want to pay respects to the Lord and Lady,” he said, then marched her through the pocket doors. The smell was stronger in here, sharper and more tangible. Then, her heart leapt; she’d caught a glimpse of distant book spines.

“It’s a library?” she asked.

“Yeah. A rotten one.” Sid played the flashlight beam along the mantel of a marble fireplace. “But up there, see ’em? That would be Lord William Ardemore. And his wife, Gwen, of course.”

The portraits were too large, and the beam of the light too small, but she could make out a frowning man with deep set eyes and a woman with a rosebud mouth, who might have suitably graced a Victorian cookie tin. Family members she had never known.

“Damned odd, those two.” Sid flicked the light between them. “Just up and vanished from the place.”

Jo sucked a breath. Did everyone know more about them than she did?

“What do you mean? Vanished how?”

“I mean just that.” He played the light against his own face, campfire style. “Just up sticks and gone. Fired everybody, too, didn’t they? Oh, they’d been toast of the town, like.” He did an awful falsetto: “Jobs for the big garden and big bloody house. Then poof. Like they were running from something.”

Jo was watching carefully for signs of a joke. There didn’t appear to be any, so then she waited for him to carry on. Except he didn’t. She studied him for a few silent seconds, until he gave another bark of laughter.

“Nothin’ to say about that, eh? Well, the old Lord and Lady are the least of your worries, anyhow. There’s a hole in the roof upstairs, an honest to God hole. Between you and me? Be cheaper to pull the house down than to fix it up.”

Jo pursed her lips so hard she felt teeth.

“I just got it! I can’t tear it down!”

Sid only shrugged at her outburst.

“Fair, I guess. But what do you plan to do with it, then? Look around.”

Jo did not, in fact, have an answer to that. Sid apparently meant it rhetorically, anyway, since he was now herding her toward the door.

“To the cottage,” he said. “Come on.”

Excerpted from The Framed Women of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace. Copyright © 2024 by Brandy Schillace. Published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A., a division of HarperCollins

The Framed Women of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace is a mystery novel with a neurodivergent lead character. The story in The Framed Women of Ardemore House does have some flashing back to the past and changes of the point of view at some points of the novel.

It has not been a good year for Jo Jones having lost her job and her mother so with nothing holding her in New York she has decided to make her way to England. Jo often finds herself struggling to fit in with her autism diagnosis but she hopes the English countryside where she has inherited an old run down manor in North Yorkshire will finally be home.

Shortly after arriving at the old family estate though Jo finds her new home needs more repairs than she had hoped but that isn’t the worst of her problems when she also finds a dead body. Jo soon finds herself a potential suspect in the local detectives eyes but the mystery goes even deeper when she finds an old portrait also missing from the house.

When first picking up The Framed Women of Ardemore House by Brandy Schillace I thought this one might be a cozy mystery but I felt the book was more firmly in the mystery genre which was perfectly fine too. I do enjoy books with neurodivergent characters so I quickly settled into getting to know Jo and her surroundings. The story did feel it jumped around a bit which took some getting used to in the beginning keeping me turning the pages wondering what would happen and overall this one turned into one interesting mystery.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

About the author:

Brandy Schillace, PhD,  is a historian of medicine and the critically acclaimed author of Death’s Summer Coat: What Death and Dying Teach Us About Life and Living and Clockwork Futures: The Science of Steampunk. The editor-in-chief of the journal Medical Humanities, she previously worked as a professor of literature and in research and public engagement at the Dittrick Medical History Center and Museum. Brandy also hosts the Peculiar Book Club Podcast, a twice-monthly show.The Framed Women of Ardemore House, featuring an autistic protagonist caught at the center of a murder mystery, is her fiction debut. Brandy is also autistic, though has not (to her knowledge) been a suspect in a murder investigation.

Author Website  / Twitter  / Facebook  / Instagram  / Book’s Instagram  / Peculiar Book Club Podcast, Facebook Group 

**This post contains Amazon affiliate links which will allow me as an associate to earn a small commission on any purchase made through the link of the products I share. This commission in no way changes the pricing of any items for the buyer.**

Dirty Saint
Tabatha Vargo
(Sons of Sinister, #2)
Publication date: February 21st 2024
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Koah Saint

Son of Sinister. Drug dealer. The number one stunner on The Strip and a BIG FAT LIAR.

They bow to him like he’s the holy grail, but I know he’s really the devil.

Since the day he was dropped on our doorstep, I’ve wanted him out of my life.

He’s a black stain on my memory and the one who put my father away.

Because of him, I’m flipping burgers instead of lying on beaches. To say he ruined my life would be an understatement.

Ten years later, I still can’t stand the guy, but even I can admit he’s sexy beyond belief. I won’t fall for his lusty looks and boyish charms. There’s nothing he can say or do to me to make me believe he’s anything but a lying playboy.

Or is there?

Goodreads / Amazon / iBooks / Kobo

Get ready for February 21st!

Book 1 – Shattered Skull – is only 99c for a limited time!

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EXCERPT:

A little heated hatred scene from Dirty Saint. This book is heavy on the enemies to lovers, y’all. It’s so hot.

———————–

I pushed until he moved back, and I could breathe freely. “You did. You lied. You ruined my life. Thanks to you, I’m not the sweet girl I used to be. Now, I’m a bitter bitch with fury in my heart.”

His large palm covered my hand, holding it to his hard chest and sending another wave of fear crashing over me. His nostrils flared as he breathed down at me. The heat from his body made my trembling fingertips tingle. I was cold all over even though it was warm outside.

“You know what they say about bitter bitches?” His smooth voice was sprinkled with hints of sarcasm and anger.

I pulled back, wishing I was strong enough to free my hand from his grasp. My knees began to knock, and I worried I would explode if I didn’t get away. The mix of emotions was a volatile cocktail—unstable and capable.

“What?”

He licked his thick lips before a sarcastic smile formed, making his dimples appear.

“They taste sour. Next time you finger yourself, taste and see.”

I gasped, ripping my hand from his and lifting it to slap him. He was faster than me and instead caught my hand in the air.

“Be careful who you raise your hand to, Tori. Little girls like you are bound to get knocked on their asses.”

“I’d like to see you try,” I spat, dying for a fight with him.

Whatever anxiety I felt seconds earlier had been burned away by the raw fury he pulled forward with his words. I had spent most of the past ten years of my life imagining how good it would feel to knock Koah on his ass. I would gladly give him what he wanted if he wanted a piece of me.

He chuckled, letting go of my hand and daring me with his eyes to try to hit him again.

“I don’t hit girls,” he said.

“That’s funny. You have no problem destroying a girl’s life, but you won’t hit them? Typical cowardly bullshit.”

He stepped away from me, and the crisp night air flooded my cheeks, cooling them. Once again, the side of his mouth lifted in a sardonic grin.

“I’ll see you around, Tori.” He crossed his arms, dismissing me.

I wanted to stand my ground, but the longer I stood there glaring back at him, the more I desired to run away. So I folded first, turning and going toward Sadie. I needed away from The Strip and didn’t care what I had to do to get her to leave. I would never let Sadie talk me into a night out again, especially if it meant seeing the devil and remembering how he had burned me.

 

Author Bio:

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Tabatha is a New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author, best known for her sexy adult romance Little Black Book.

Tabatha writes in all genres, including adult and new adult, and isn’t afraid to venture into the dark side on occasion, as she proved with her dark, prison romance, Slammer.

She’s an avid reader of all things smutty and the writer of sexy stories featuring redeemable alpha bad boys and sweet, strong women.

Her other loves include her children, her loving, supportive husband, anything historical, and wind chimes.

When she isn’t writing, she’s texting book ideas to herself.

Tabatha is represented by SBR Media. For inquiries regarding foreign rights, audio, and other media outlets, please contact Stephanie Phillips.

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