Excerpt #1
“Damn it’s
bright,” I mutter, squinting against the glare of the sun. Another
scorching-hot day in North Georgia. It’s a good thing I didn’t waste time
curling my hair. My hair is thick and straight and would have fallen within
seconds of coming in contact with the humidity-drenched air.
Along with car keys, I remove my
sunglasses from my purse as I make my way to the car. The sunglasses go on
immediately.
I exchange hellos with our neighbor,
Mr. Jeffries, who’s washing his van in his driveway as he does without fail
every week. He and his wife and two kids have lived next door to us as long as
I can remember.
The ding of my cell alerts me to an
incoming message. I fish the phone from my purse and notice I have two missed
calls from Erin and a message in all caps from her that says, CALL ME NOW!!!
I roll my eyes. Miss Melodrama. I
thought she was on her way to the fitting. The sound of a car door opening and
closing pulls my attention to the car now parked in front of my house.
Seconds later the driver is striding
toward me. The next thing I know, I’m staring into green eyes the exact shade
of my daughter’s. I’m staring at the guy I haven’t seen in over a year. The
same guy who accused me of cheating on him, demanded a paternity test, and then
took off back to New York when I was ten weeks pregnant.
It’s Mitch
Aaron Kingsley, my ex, and Brianna’s worthless, no-good, biological father.
Excerpt #2
In the air-conditioned entryway,
we’re lined up like opposing teams on a scrimmage line, Trent beside me on one
side and Mitch facing us on the other.
Oblivious to the turmoil going on
around her and content in my arms, Bree grasps a hank of my hair and lays her
head on my shoulder. Then she quietly observes the stranger in her midst, her
mouth curved in a broad smile, as if
welcoming him.
I want to tell her not to let his
good looks and smooth charm fool her. I want to warn her about this stranger
who comes bearing gifts.
Don’t trust him with anything of value, especially your heart, pumpkin.
Mommy had to learn that the hard way.
Mitch’s eyes grow cold as his gaze
briefly stops on Trent. I can’t believe he cares whether Trent and I are
involved, which must mean all that frost has everything to do with the fact
that Trent has a relationship with his daughter. Something he doesn’t have.
Excerpt #3
“Great,
and I appreciate that,” he says, his tone heavy on the sarcasm. “But this is
for Bree and you know I would do anything for her.”
Right.
Bree comes first. As she should.
“Oh I
know you would,” I reply, in total agreement with that. “You love her. You
moved back home to be with her. You quit football for her. You’ve canceled
plans for her. Believe me, Mitch, I can clearly see how much you love her.”
There’s
a beat of silence and then he says, “Wait, isn’t that supposed to be a good
thing? I thought that’s what you wanted. Hell, isn’t that what all mothers want
from the fathers of their kids?”
“It
is,” I say quietly, heat suffusing my cheeks in a flood of shame and remorse.
God, what is wrong with me? This is what
I want. Always wanted. All those nights I walked the carpet with her
trying to get her to sleep, I wanted him there. And how many tears had I shed
wanting him to care this much? Far too many.
Mitch
growls low in his throat, tips his head back and runs his hands roughly through
his hair. His expression is one of utter bewilderment when he lowers his gaze
to mine. “Then. What. Is. The. Problem? You gotta help me out here, Paige,
because I’m doing everything I can think of to prove myself to you.”
And
that’s when it hits me. If they were doing a remake of Mommy Dearest, I could easily be cast in the lead role because I
think I'm actually jealous of my own daughter. God, I have to be the worst
mother in the world.
Teaser #1
“First, I don’t want you to think
that my accepting is a way of getting us back together. I’m doing what’s best
for Bree and my mom,” she states in a no-nonsense voice.
For a brief second, I let my eyes
wander and I take in all the bare skin revealed by her outfit, and bite the
inside of my mouth to squash the unwanted surge of lust. She doesn’t want to know what I’m thinking.
“No, I get it. This is all about Bree
and your mom,” I reply, completely poker-faced, knowing I’m lying through my
teeth. She may have convinced herself we’re over but we’re not. Nope, not by a
long shot.
(Trapped #1)
Publication date: July 7th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Synopsis:
My life has turned out to be such a cliché. And not in a good way.
It’s not exactly Sixteen and Pregnant, but at eighteen my only advantage is a high school diploma. And if that’s not enough, the father—and I use that term loosely—couldn’t have hightailed it out of my life fast enough.
I thought I really knew him. Unfortunately, my boyfriend of three years transformed from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde once he realized his carefree, childless days would be coming to an end.
I’m over him now though. The real love of my life is chubby, has more gum than teeth, and stands a little over two feet tall. She may not have been planned, but I’ve never regretted having her. She is the center of my world.
A world that’s turned upside down when my ex returns ready to earn the love and trust of the child he abandoned before birth.
Letting him into my daughter’s life is one thing but letting him back into mine isn’t going to happen. Because the biggest mistake of my life has a name, and that name is Mitchell Aaron Kingsley.
And he’s one mistake I don’t ever intend to make again.
It’s not exactly Sixteen and Pregnant, but at eighteen my only advantage is a high school diploma. And if that’s not enough, the father—and I use that term loosely—couldn’t have hightailed it out of my life fast enough.
I thought I really knew him. Unfortunately, my boyfriend of three years transformed from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde once he realized his carefree, childless days would be coming to an end.
I’m over him now though. The real love of my life is chubby, has more gum than teeth, and stands a little over two feet tall. She may not have been planned, but I’ve never regretted having her. She is the center of my world.
A world that’s turned upside down when my ex returns ready to earn the love and trust of the child he abandoned before birth.
Letting him into my daughter’s life is one thing but letting him back into mine isn’t going to happen. Because the biggest mistake of my life has a name, and that name is Mitchell Aaron Kingsley.
And he’s one mistake I don’t ever intend to make again.
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AUTHOR BIO
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Beverley Kendall has lived on two continents, in three countries, two provinces, and four states. She stopped her nomadic existence and settled in the southeast with her young son. All things artistic feed her creative passion, but none more than writing.
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