(Fighting Chance #1)
Publication date: November 13th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Synopsis:
The road of Haley Cavanaugh’s life has been filled with cracks, potholes and detour signs. Her mom’s cancer forced her to grow up too fast and her brother has moved across the country instead of sticking around when she needs him most. Now, her parents are forcing her to move out. They say she needs to follow through with the plans she’s set for herself, but Haley is torn between her dreams and her family’s reality. The only thing she has to look forward to is living with her best friend, Kyler.
What she doesn’t need right now? Eli Park. Haley remembers him as Kyler’s boyfriend’s geeky roommate, but he’s anything but geeky now. Now, he’s downright hot. And Haley cannot get him out of her head.
It would be easier if they didn’t have class together five days a week. Or have weekly study dates. And if she didn’t spend way too much time with Kyler at Eli’s house. But, the closer he gets and the harder she falls, the more Haley pulls away. Her heart is too fragile to end up broken on the side of the road. She thinks she’s got it under control until Eli brings home another girl and Haley realizes what she has to lose.
As Haley’s life is turned further upside down, will she be left to pick up the pieces of her heart alone?
Excerpts:
One
Two
What she doesn’t need right now? Eli Park. Haley remembers him as Kyler’s boyfriend’s geeky roommate, but he’s anything but geeky now. Now, he’s downright hot. And Haley cannot get him out of her head.
It would be easier if they didn’t have class together five days a week. Or have weekly study dates. And if she didn’t spend way too much time with Kyler at Eli’s house. But, the closer he gets and the harder she falls, the more Haley pulls away. Her heart is too fragile to end up broken on the side of the road. She thinks she’s got it under control until Eli brings home another girl and Haley realizes what she has to lose.
As Haley’s life is turned further upside down, will she be left to pick up the pieces of her heart alone?
Excerpts:
One
I swung back and forth for a while,
letting the breeze settle my nerves. I don’t know how long I was out there for,
but eventually, I heard a car pull up. The door shut and footsteps thumped up
the stairs.
“Hello,” a masculine voice drifted
towards me.
I opened my eyes and was greeted with
crystal blue eyes, messy brown hair, a lopsided smirk and six feet of tall,
lean man.
“Er…um…hi,” I croaked out. Okay…the man
was gorgeous. Pretty sure I was blushing.
“Haley?” gorgeous mystery man asked.
I nodded. I didn’t know who this guy
was, but he seemed to know me. And if I opened my mouth to ask him, I’m sure I
would sound like an idiot again.
He gave me that adorable lopsided grin
again. “Eli.” He pointed at himself, like I should know who he was. Eli was leaning
against the porch railing, staring at me with amusement in his eyes. Maybe if
he wasn’t so damn attractive I could get my brain to start working again. But
for now, I could only stare.
“You don’t remember me, do you?” he
asked. “The four of us hung out together when I roomed with Noah in the dorms.”
Holy shit. This
man in front of me couldn’t be Noah’s roommate. There was no possible way he
was the same guy. I hung out with the kid all the time, and this guy…no, not
him. Not him at all.
“You look nothing like you did freshman
year.” I blurted out. Then quickly turned red and clamped my hand over my
mouth.
Oh God, he’s going to think you are the
biggest idiot.
Eli laughed. “I was a lot scrawnier
back then. Had longer hair. Wore thick framed glasses all the time.” His voice
still sounded the same. That was something at least. “When I moved back home to
help my mom, I worked with my uncle at his construction company. I guess that
helped me gain a little muscle.” He shrugged like he was not confident with how
he looked.
The more I stared at him, the more he
was becoming familiar. Freshman year, he was this quiet, slightly nerdy kid. He
always wore comic book t-shirts. He had spent most of his time on his computer
or playing video games with Noah. Kyler had kept telling me that he had a crush
on me, and she even begged me to go out with him a few times, but I always came
up with reasons I couldn’t. Mostly those excuses dealt with my crush at
that time—Drew. Blah. I was so not going to think about that douche when
Eli was standing in front of me.
I mean, I enjoyed hanging out with him
as a friend, but dating? He was definitely not what I thought my type was.
Though, what I thought my type was turned out to be a bunch of jerks, so maybe
I should have given the nice guy a chance.
“You okay?” he asked gently, pushing
off the railing and taking a seat next to me on the swing. “You seem lost in
thought.”
I shrugged, not knowing what to say.
“You don’t remember me, do you?”
“Oh no, I do.”
I pushed from the table, making my way
to my parents’ room. The door was cracked open. I gripped the knob, pushed it
further open and peeked my head in. Mom was curled up on her side, sleeping
peacefully. I didn’t want to interrupt her rest, but I also didn’t want to be
away from her anymore. So, I did the only thing I could think of; I crawled
onto my dad’s side and curled up next to her.
There had been many summer afternoons
when she was sick the first time that I would refuse to play outside and just
spent them by my mom’s side in their bed. I took in my mom’s face, how pale and
drawn in it seemed since the last time I was here. Her hair was void of its
usual shine and fullness. I brushed a few strands off her forehead and tucked
them behind her ear. She moved at my touch, and I yanked my hand back to my
side. Her eyes slowly blinked open, and she gave me a tired smile.
“Hey, sweetie, when did you get here?”
Her voice came out rough. She sat up and took a sip of water from the glass on
the bedside table.
“Around eleven or so.” I watched as she
looked over at the clock.
“It’s already four-thirty? How did I
sleep so long?” She raised her arms over her head and stretched back and forth.
Color slowly started to return to her face. “It must have been because I
couldn’t sleep last night. Binge watching TV shows has been my thing for the
last few weeks.” She gave me a smile then threw her arms around me. “It’s good
to see you.”
“You too,” I murmured into her shirt.
Was she really staying up late and was that why she was looking weaker? Or was
she just putting on a front so I wouldn’t worry so much about her? My mind
chose to believe what she said was true. It was easier that way.
“So, tell me, how’s school, life?” She
asked me this like we didn’t have weekly phone conversations.
“Midterms are next week. Really looking
forward to them being over with. Work is…work. I smell like coffee daily, and
it’s starting to lose its enjoyable scent.” I put on my best frown face,
because I have always loved the smell of coffee, but it has started to wear on
me.
“Don’t worry. Next summer, you’ll have
some big fancy graphic design job, and coffee will be your love again.” Mom
smiled. “Speaking of love…” She trailed off and gave me a wink.
“Oh come on! Not you too!” I threw my
arms up in defeat. There was no way I wasn’t going to spill every single detail
about Eli to my mom. She knew me better than that, and by the way she was
adjusting her pillows behind her making herself comfortable, she knew I was
going to tell her. She eyed me expectantly. “Noah has a big mouth.”
Mom laughed. “Tell your mother all
about Eli Park.”
“Jeez! He gave last names and
everything? Did you do a background check too?”
“Do you think I need to?” she joked. I
rolled my eyes and settled against the pillows.
Three
“Do you need any more help?” I stepped
out of Kyler’s grasp and glanced around the kitchen. It looked like chaos…but
organized chaos.
“Nope. Everything is settled in here.”
She hooked her arm through mine and led me out of the kitchen. Noah and Eli
were sitting on the couch when we entered the living room. She nudged my arm,
gave me a wink and turned to the guys. “Eli, would you mind running with Haley
to get the pizzas?”
“I can get them myself.” Eli stood and
headed for the door. I stared after him, hurt that he didn’t even want to be
alone with me. Was he still just trying to give me space? Or did he finally
realize that I was more trouble than he wanted?
“Well, I know you could. But I need
Haley to stop at the store…I forgot something.” Kyler nudged my arm again,
tilting her head slightly in the direction of the door.
I’m fluent in Kyler non-verbal
gestures, and clearly, she was telling me to get out that front door. But my
feet paused at the look Eli flashed Kyler. His eyes shone uncertainly. His gaze
flicked to me quickly, but I caught the softness in them before they darted
back to Kyler.
“What is it? I can pick that up too.”
He plucked his keys from the table and propped himself up against the
doorframe, waiting for Kyler to finish.
“Oh, well…I um forgot… I um…need some
tampons.” She blurted out. I swear every single face in the room turned red.
Noah looked Kyler up and down before
opening his mouth. “But I thought…” Kyler held up a hand to stop him and gave
him a short glare before turning back to Eli.
“So did you want to pick those up? I’d
have to write it down. Haley knows what kind I use, so it’d be easy for her to
just grab them. But if you want to go at it alone—”
Eli interrupted her. “No, that’s okay.
I could use Haley’s help.” He rushed out the door before Kyler could continue
on about her feminine needs.
“Didn’t you just have your
period?” My question hit Kyler’s smirk. I didn’t even need her to reply since I
knew the answer. We were roommates after all.
Kyler winked at me again, before she
pushed me toward the door. “You’re welcome!” I heard her say as I exited the
house.
Purchase:
AUTHOR BIO:
Born and raised in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin, Caylie fell in love with reading at a young age. With her lively imagination, she created numerous stories in her head throughout her childhood and teenage years.
Her first novel, Choose Us, released in April 2014 and became an Amazon Bestseller.
When she isn't slaving away at the keyboard, Caylie is an avid reader, and lover of coffee... copious amounts of coffee. She also has an unhealthy addiction to coffee mugs, chapstick, water bottles, football, and tv shows--binge watching is her favorite.
She chases her two kids around the house all day, and has a husband whom she adores.
If you want to stay tuned in to all of the new release news, sign up for Caylie's spam-free newsletter. It only comes out when something exciting is happening...
http://eepurl.com/T7sp5
Her first novel, Choose Us, released in April 2014 and became an Amazon Bestseller.
When she isn't slaving away at the keyboard, Caylie is an avid reader, and lover of coffee... copious amounts of coffee. She also has an unhealthy addiction to coffee mugs, chapstick, water bottles, football, and tv shows--binge watching is her favorite.
She chases her two kids around the house all day, and has a husband whom she adores.
If you want to stay tuned in to all of the new release news, sign up for Caylie's spam-free newsletter. It only comes out when something exciting is happening...
http://eepurl.com/T7sp5
Author links:
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