Release Day Review: Finding Eden by Mia Sheridan

Finding Eden by Mia Sheridan

Finding Eden by Mia Sheridan
Series: A Sign of Love #6 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: October 5th 2014
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review

When the world as you know it has ended, when all that you love has been washed away, where do you find strength?

When the new world you’ve stepped into is as isolating as the last, when your heart is broken, and your future is unclear, where do you find hope?

Finding Eden is a story of strength, discovery, forgiveness, and undying love. It is about believing in your destiny and following the path that leads to peace.

Read my review of Becoming Calder.

LORD. HAVE. MERCY.

Mia Sheridan, you kill me.

HOLY SMOKES, Finding Eden was even BETTER than Becoming Calder! I don’t even know how that was possible, but Mia Sheridan did it. Finding Eden was phenomenal, one of my favorite reads of the year! It literally is one of THE BEST books I’ve ever read. I can’t even begin to explain how Eden and Calder’s epic love story moved my heart. I loved this book – their books! I loved THEM!

Finding Eden is the second part of Calder and Eden’s story, so it SHOULD NOT be read as a standalone. You absolutely must start their story from the beginning with Becoming Calder. Both of these books are complete, full-length novels, so you’re not cheated of anything. I’m actually really glad Calder and Eden’s entire story was split into two books. It fit with the story – there needed to be a break in between, because the feel of the two books are different. It’s still Eden and Calder, but they’ve changed over the years, and they’re in an entirely different situation now than in Becoming Calder.

“Are we going to be okay, Calder? Do we even have a chance?”
… “We’re going to try our damndest, Eden. That’s all I can give you. That’s all I can promise.”

It’s been three years since Eden and Calder have left Acadia, and both Eden and Calder have managed to make something of themselves. The last time we saw them, they were so unsure of their future, but now, they actually have a future. I don’t want to spoil any part of the book, but I will say that their story becomes even more epic in Finding Eden. Again and again, I was swept away by the emotions in this book, which somehow were even more intense than they were in Becoming Calder. The writing was absolute PERFECTION – the book was mesmerizing and utterly addicting to read. I. Loved. It!

No matter where Eden and I had been placed together in this world, we would have fallen in love. Whether we’d been two college freshman, two farm hands, two gypsies, two anything, the falling in love part of our story would have been the same. She would have pulled my heart from across a gymnasium, or a cornfield, or a traveling caravan.

I’ve never been so happy with a book. The whole time I was reading Finding Eden, I was smiling, sighing, gasping so hard, hand clutched to my heart, nearly crying tears of joy. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve been so swept away by a book, but Finding Eden did just that. I was swept away by Calder and Eden’s beautiful, heart-wrenching, heart-warming, emotional love story. I loved Becoming Calder, but Finding Eden was the truly remarkable and unforgettable one for me. I fell in love even more with Eden and Calder in this book (which, again, I had no idea was possible). Their journey towards a well-deserved happily ever after gets a round of applause from me. Mia Sheridan, you rocked Calder and Eden’s story.

If you love love stories, this is as epic as they come. I wholeheartedly recommend Becoming Calder and Finding Eden. This is Mia Sheridan at her finest, and you don’t want to miss it.

“You, just you, with nothing else, no job, no house, no money, nothing. Stripped bare. You will always be enough for me. You will always be my dream come true, my destiny.”

6 hearts!!! Looooved!!! One of the best books I’ve read all year!

6 hearts
lacey

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.


Reading Order: A Sign of Love series

Note: Each of the books in the A Sign of Love series can be read as complete standalones that have no connection with each other, with the exception of Leo’s Chance, which is the hero’s POV of Leo, and Becoming Calder and Finding Eden, a two-book story featuring the same cast of characters. None of the characters in the different Sign of Love books are connected.

Leo by Mia Sheridan Leo's Chance by Mia Sheridan Stinger by Mia Sheridan
Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan Becoming Calder by Mia Sheridan Finding Eden by Mia Sheridan
Kyland by Mia Sheridan Grayson's Vow by Mia Sheridan Midnight Lily by Mia Sheridan

#1 ~ Leo: EbookPaperback • AudibleGoodreads
#2 ~ Leo’s Chance: EbookPaperback • AudibleGoodreads
#3 ~ Stinger: EbookPaperbackAudible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Archer’s Voice: EbookPaperback • AudibleGoodreads
#5 ~ Becoming Calder: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#6 ~ Finding Eden: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#7 ~ Kyland: My Review • EbookPaperbackAudible • Goodreads
#8 ~ Grayson’s Vow: My Review • EbookPaperback • Audible • Goodreads
#9 ~ Midnight Lily: Ebook • PaperbackAudible • Goodreads


FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
FACEBOOKTWITTERGOODREADSPINTERESTBLOGLOVIN’

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Release Day Review: Becoming Calder by Mia Sheridan

Becoming Calder by Mia Sheridan

Becoming Calder by Mia Sheridan
Series: A Sign of Love #5 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: October 5th 2014
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review

There is a place in modern day America with no electricity, no plumbing, and no modern conveniences. In this place, there is no room for dreams, no space for self-expression, and no tolerance for ambition.

In this place, there is a boy with the body of a God and the heart of a warrior. He is strong and faithful and serves his family honorably. But he dares to dream of more.

In this place, there is a girl with the face of an angel and a heart full of courage. To her family, she is the vision of obedient perfection. But she dares to want that which she has been told can never be hers.

Becoming Calder is the story of good versus evil, fear versus bravery, and the truth that the light of love has always found its way into even the darkest of places… From the beginning of time, to the end of the world.

Wow. WOW WOW WOW!!! I am just stunned by this book. I honestly had no idea what I was in for… Becoming Calder simply blew me away – it’s a truly unforgettable, unputdownable story.

I’ve read Mia Sheridan’s previous books and enjoyed them so much, but this, THIS book made me fall madly and deeply with this author. The writing, the characters, the EMOTIONS, everything in this book was absolutely phenomenal. I was hooked onto this story from start to finish. I can’t say enough good things about Becoming Calder – I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!

We begin the story with a girl for whom it seems almost all hope is lost. She’s alone, desperate, in need of some help. She’s lost in this world… but why? How did she get into this situation? The entire prologue makes you question and wonder – it basically hooks you onto this story and won’t let you go. You want to know this girl’s story, how it came to be. So we go back to the start of this girl’s story. Back to where it all began – in a place that is separate, different, from society.

The setting Mia Sheridan uses in Calder and Eden’s beautiful story is truly unique and remarkably well-written. It’s a community of people who have removed themselves from modern society in order to live out more simple lives. This is the place known as Acadia, the place where Calder is born and grows up in. He has never known anything different than this simple community and has never needed to know anything different – until a young girl named Eden arrives and his outlook on life is forever changed.

She was mesmerizing. Gracefully beautiful. Ethereal. Mine. That’s the girl I choose. Mine, my mind insisted.

Eden doesn’t know where she is when she’s taken to Acadia, but she’s been given a destiny that she doesn’t want to fulfill. She’s told she must marry Hector, the leader of Acadia, and she has no say in her future. I felt for this girl so much – her fear and confusion comes so clearly off the pages, I just wanted to reach out into the book and comfort her. Becoming Calder spans many years, and throughout these years, Eden has to live separate from everyone else because of her supposed ‘destiny’. She’s being forced into a destiny she doesn’t want, but secretly meeting Calder at their spring, becoming friends with him, falling in love with him, are the best things to have ever happened to her.

He was perfect. And I loved him. I loved him desperately.
And I was destined to marry Hector. Or so I was told. Only destiny hadn’t check with me first. If she had, I would have told her that I was pretty sure Calder Raynes was my destiny–or at least I would have begged for it to be made so.

I feel that an author is truly gifted when I can feel every emotion running through their characters. As Eden and Calder fall in love, it felt like I was falling in love for the first time. I truly experienced everything alongside these characters. My heart was racing, I was breathless, my palms were sweating – this is a book you don’t just read, but experience.

“If I were just a boy, and you were just a girl, I wouldn’t kiss you once like you asked.” He paused and my heart dropped. Oh.
“Eden, I’d kiss you long, and I’d kiss you often.”

Eden and Calder are one of my FAVORITE couples ever. I could read about them forever. They are sweet, heartwarming, intense, beautiful, mesmerizing, and unforgettable together. I wanted so badly for them to get a happily ever after they so rightly deserved. They make plans to leave Acadia, along with Calder’s best friend Xander, but it’s not easy. They really have nothing that would help them survive in modern society, but they won’t give up. They want to have a better life, and they can’t have that in Acadia.

“Do you think there’s a life out there for us?”
Calder paused for a few beats, looking down at me. “I’m going to make a life for us out there. A place for you and me. And until then, yes, I’m going to believe that there is.”

Becoming Calder is a thought-provoking, intense, gorgeous read. So many emotions were running through me while reading this book, and I never wanted it to end. And the writing!! I feel like with each book Mia Sheridan releases, the writing gets better and better, and the writing in Becoming Calder was simply stunning! I loved this book so, so much. Please, please, please read Calder and Eden’s epic story. I promise you won’t regret it. 5 perfect hearts!

Note: Becoming Calder is the first part of Calder and Eden’s story. It is a full length novel, but the story continues in Finding Eden, which releases simultaneously with Becoming Calder (so you don’t have to wait for the sequel). Psst – you’ll want to get your hands on Finding Eden as soon as you finish Becoming Calder!

Read my review of Finding Eden.

5 hearts
lacey

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.


Reading Order: A Sign of Love series

Note: Each of the books in the A Sign of Love series can be read as complete standalones that have no connection with each other, with the exception of Leo’s Chance, which is the hero’s POV of Leo, and Becoming Calder and Finding Eden, a two-book story featuring the same cast of characters. None of the characters in the different Sign of Love books are connected.

Leo by Mia Sheridan Leo's Chance by Mia Sheridan Stinger by Mia Sheridan
Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan Becoming Calder by Mia Sheridan Finding Eden by Mia Sheridan
Kyland by Mia Sheridan Grayson's Vow by Mia Sheridan Midnight Lily by Mia Sheridan

#1 ~ Leo: EbookPaperback • AudibleGoodreads
#2 ~ Leo’s Chance: EbookPaperback • AudibleGoodreads
#3 ~ Stinger: EbookPaperbackAudible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Archer’s Voice: EbookPaperback • AudibleGoodreads
#5 ~ Becoming Calder: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#6 ~ Finding Eden: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#7 ~ Kyland: My Review • EbookPaperbackAudible • Goodreads
#8 ~ Grayson’s Vow: My Review • EbookPaperback • Audible • Goodreads
#9 ~ Midnight Lily: Ebook • PaperbackAudible • Goodreads


FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
FACEBOOKTWITTERGOODREADSPINTERESTBLOGLOVIN’

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Pre-Release Blitz + Excerpt & Giveaway: Reaper’s Stand by Joanna Wylde

reaper's stand pre-release blitz

Reaper’s Stand by Joanna Wylde is almost here! We have an excerpt and a giveaway to celebrate!

Reaper's Stand by Joanna Wylde

Title: Reaper’s Stand
Series: Reaper’s MC #4 (full reading order below)
Author: Joanna Wylde
Release Date: October 7th 2014
Add to Goodreads

As Reapers Motorcycle Club president, Reese “Picnic” Hayes has given his entire life to the club. After losing his wife, he knew he’d never love another woman. And with two daughters to raise and a club to manage, that was just fine with him. These days, Reese keeps his relationships free and easy—he definitely doesn’t want to waste his time on a glorified cleaning lady like London Armstrong.

Too bad he’s completely obsessed with her.

Besides running her own business, London’s got her junkie cousin’s daughter to look after—a more reckless than average eighteen-year-old. Sure she’s attracted to the Reapers’ president, but she’s not stupid. Reese Hayes is a criminal and a thug. But when her young cousin gets caught up with a ruthless drug cartel, Reese might be the only man who can help her. Now London has to make the hardest decision of her life—how far will she go to save her family?

Purchase:
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • iTunes

reaper's stand teaser

Now here’s an excerpt from Reaper’s Stand! ❤

excerpt

“Okay, let’s get some shit straight and then you can head out.” Great, here it came. The Talk. Fortunately I was ahead of him for once.

“Don’t worry, Reese. I know this was just a one-off for you, and that you don’t want a relationship. That’s what I needed, too, so in a way it’s perfect. No harm, no foul. We can just pretend this never happened.”

A scowl covered his face. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Us. Or rather, the fact that there isn’t an ‘us.’ I get it—you like to sleep around. I had a good time, but I’m not expecting a ring or anything.”

His eyes widened, and I smirked.

“Although I’ll be around if you want another booty call,” I added slyly.

Yay me! I’m a sophisticated woman who knows the difference between love and sex.

Reese’s scowl grew deeper, and then suddenly he moved and I was under him, pinned down against the bed. He pulled my hands up, holding them prisoner above my head.

“Are you fucked in the head?” he demanded harshly. “You get laid for the first time in years, it’s phenomenal—”

“Well, aren’t you the modest one?”

“It’s phenomenal,” he repeated, emphasizing the word heavily. “And now you’re just going to ignore me? I am not fuckin’ down with that.”

Reading Order: Reaper’s MC series

Reaper's Property by Joanna Wylde Reaper's Legacy by Joanna Wylde Devil's Game by Joanna Wylde Reaper's Stand by Joanna Wylde

#1 ~ Reaper’s Property: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Reaper’s Legacy: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Devil’s Game: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#4 ~ Reaper’s Stand: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads (Oct. 7, 2014)

about the author

Joanna WyldeJoanna is a freelance writer living in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. She started writing fiction in 2002, then took a long hiatus to explore other writing opportunities. She returned to fiction in January 2013 with ‘Reaper’s Property’, the first book in the Reapers Motorcycle Club series.

WebsiteFacebookTwitterGoodreads

giveaway

Signed set of Reaper’s MC series

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour + Early Review & Excerpt: Shame by Rachel Van Dyken

Shame tour banner

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for SHAME by Rachel Van Dyken!

Shame by Rachel Van Dyken

Shame by Rachel Van Dyken
Series: Ruin #3 (full reading order below)
Release Date: October 6th 2014
Add to Goodreads

Everything done in darkness, will eventually be brought into the light.

I ran, but all it did was keep me one step ahead of my past. I tried to start over; new name, new identity. But you can’t change your soul.
A fresh start at college was just what I needed. For a while, it worked. I was the party girl, the one that seemed confident, but it was a lie.
When guys kissed me–I felt only pain.
When they touched me–Nothing but fear.

Deep inside, every girl wants to be the beauty in the story, to find someone that will see you as their world.
But the truth? I was the beast. And as much as I wanted redemption, I wasn’t fool enough to think I’d ever get it.
Until he walked into my life.

I wasn’t prepared to fall for someone. My scars were too deep, the wounds too raw. But he offered me peace, he offered me security. I should have known it was just another lie–I should have known that falling in love with my professor was a bad idea.
But I was powerless to stop myself from falling.
And he was powerless to catch me.

Because the darkness finally caught up to me, and as fate would have it, a cruel twist almost bled me dry. But I’m stronger than I knew. I’m stronger than you think.
You think you know my story, but you don’t….after all everyone has Shame in their lives– and I’m no longer afraid to show you mine.

Buy Links:
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • iTunes

review

Ooooh!! Shame was such an addicting read! I’m so glad to have finally read Lisa’s story!

Shame always comes.
And you’re about to know mine…

Shame is the third book in the Ruin series, and though it can be read as a standalone, I’d recommend you not read it as one. The other characters from the previous books feature heavily in Shame (Wes and Gabe!), and you get to know Lisa through a different light in the previous book.

This book has a whole mesh of genres–there’s some mystery and suspense, some forbidden teacher-student romance, and some dark, heart-wrenching topics in Shame. When I finished this book, it felt like I’d been through the wringer. I was mentally exhausted after reading Shame–there was just SO much going on, it nearly felt like I couldn’t keep track of it all. I liked the book well enough, but I didn’t LOVE it. But for Rachel Van Dyken fans, you most definitely should enjoy Shame. It’s like her other books–you will be heavily sucked into the story and utterly addicted to the characters.

“The broken pieces are the prettiest ones, Lisa. The demons, the proudest scars.”

Shame is Lisa’s book, and it turns out that this girl has such a tragic past. I don’t want to spoil any part of her story because I feel that it’s best to go into Shame blindly, but I will say that there so much more to Lisa than meets the eye. She has a haunting, dark past that she tries to run away from, but of course the past has a way of catching up. Her shame makes her feel unlovable, but it’s only when Tristan enters her life that things start to change… for better and for worse. Because not only is Tristan Dr. Blake, Lisa’s professor, he’s also connected to her past.

The entire time I was reading Shame, I was biting my nails, just waiting for when the truth would come out. Nothing good could come from Tristan and Lisa getting together, but everything felt right when they were.

I wanted her. It wasn’t right; it was wrong, and for the first time in my life, I wanted the wrong. I wanted the bad. I wanted it more than truth. Give me the lie. Just give me her.

We get both Tristan and Lisa’s POVs in Shame, which was definitely something I enjoyed. Tristan and Lisa were a hot couple–they had an intense chemistry that only burned hotter because of how forbidden it was. I love forbidden romances, and Rachel Van Dyken wrote this aspect of the story very well. It was nail-biting, heart-pounding, intense!

Add in the fact that Lisa has a dangerous stalker on the loose, you get the wild ride that is Shame. It was a bit overwhelming at times for me, but somehow, instead of making me tired of the characters, Rachel Van Dyken made me addicted to them. I wanted to keep knowing what would happen next–Shame was an exciting book from start to finish.

Aaand, for fans of the series, you get TONS of Wes and Kiersten, Gabe and Saylor time. I was so glad to see those two couples again!

3.5 hearts! A bit hectic, but still so, so good!

3.5 hearts
lacey

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Now here’s an excerpt from Shame! ❤

excerpt

I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against hers. A shaky breath escaped her lips. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Are you trying to prepare me or ask permission?” she whispered, her voice beckoning me like a siren’s call.

“Both.” My lips hovered near hers. “I figure it’s only fair.”

“Fair?” She pulled back slightly. “How so?”

“Ten thousand.” I angled my head and watched the pulse jump on her neck. “That’s how many nerve endings, on average, are in your lips. Consequently, when your body anticipates pleasure, the build-up is the best part. Imagine, those ten thousand nerves are swelling, allowing blood to surge through them in anticipation of… what?” I swept my tongue across her lower lip and whispered, “Of being touched. I ask permission, not because I’m being a gentleman. It’s actually the complete opposite. I ask permission so your brain anticipates the pleasure before I’ve ever even touched you.”

I tasted her lower lip again and abruptly dipped my tongue into her mouth. Then just as quickly retreated. “The human body is an instrument. Know how to master it… and well…” I let my voice drop as I moved my hands slowly to her shoulders and tugged her body flush against mine. Our mouths met softly at first. I deepened the kiss, memorizing her taste, knowing I wouldn’t experience a kiss like this again in my lifetime. The way her scent, her soft moans destroyed my body, wrecked me from the deepest part of me, was nothing short of life-altering.

And I’d like to think I’d kissed a lot of women.

I’d studied the psychology of sexuality.

I was an expert in pleasure.

But she was schooling me, absolutely wreaking havoc on every logical thought as her soft whimper cascaded over me. Blood surged through my body as it tightened with awareness at her proximity.

She pulled back, her lips swollen. “That was… not a good enough warning.”

Laughing softly, I cupped the back of her head and gently drew it toward mine and kissed her again, angling my lips differently, searching her, consuming her, drawing pleasure from her lips as if it was my life goal to discover every single secret she owned.

Her arms wrapped around my neck. She was shy; she didn’t push against me, didn’t wrap her legs around me or moan into my mouth like I was having sex with her rather than kissing her.

My hands moved down her corset to her hips, and I lifted her into the air and walked her backward toward the brick wall. The whole time, our masks collided. In frustration, I ripped hers off, then mine. The shadows of moonlight hid our faces as I kissed her harder, losing myself in her.

Her nails dug at the back of my neck as she jerked my head harder. Groaning, I let her fall to the ground as I placed my hands on the brick wall to keep myself from ripping the dress from her body.

Shouting started from the ballroom.

“Ten, nine…!”

“Eight,” I whispered against her mouth. “Seven.”

“Six.” She sighed, her breathing labored as her tongue found mine again. “Five.”

“Four, three.” I pulled back and trailed kisses down her neck.

“Two.”

We broke apart, both breathing heavy. “One.”

People burst out onto the balcony as the fireworks started, lighting up the sky. And our faces.

And the only thing I could say as she gasped in horror was “Oh, shit.”

Reading Order: Ruin series

Ruin by Rachel Van Dyken Toxic by Rachel Van Dyken Fearless by Rachel Van Dyken Shame by Rachel Van Dyken

#1 ~ Ruin: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Toxic: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2.5 ~ Fearless: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Shame: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

about the author

Rachel Van DykenRachel Van Dyken is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she’s not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.

She keeps her home in Idaho with her Husband and their snoring Boxer, Sir Winston Churchill. She loves to hear from readers!

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads • Amazon

Pre-Release Event + Excerpt & Giveaway: Apolonia by Jamie McGuire

APOLONIA Pre-Release Banner

We would love for you to join us in celebrating the release of APOLONIA by New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jamie McGuire!

Apolonia by Jamie McGuire

TitleAPOLONIA
Author: Jamie McGuire
Age: NA
Genre: Sci-Fi Romance
Publisher: Jamie McGuire LLC (October 6, 2014)
Cover Design: Okay Creations, Sarah Hansen
Add to Goodreads

“They killed me, but I survived.”

Three years after Rory Riordan foiled her own murder, she still trusts no one. Not Dr. Z, the eccentric college professor who has taken her under his wing, not Benji, the endearing, attractive classmate who insists on following her around, and certainly not Cy, the beautifully dark and mysterious boy who sits on the first row in Dr. Z’s Astrobiology class and asks far too many questions.

When Rory witnesses Cy being abducted by soldiers in the middle of the night, she finds herself submersed in a world that holds even more secrets than she could imagine–even darker secrets than her own.

From #1 New York Times Bestseller Jamie McGuire, experience the perfect combination of her bestselling books Providence & Beautiful Disaster. This New Adult Sci-Fi Romance is an action-packed, whiplash-inducing roller coaster ride. Page after page, this unpredictable, dark and sexy nail biter will keep readers guessing until the very end!

Preorder:
Amazon • iTunes

Now here’s an excerpt from Apolonia! ❤

excerpt

Halloween night, while everyone was dressing up and attending parties, Cy and I were in the basement, punching numbers. The Fitz was one of the oldest buildings on campus, and it struggled to keep itself comfortably heated in the winter and cooled in the summer. The basement was particularly miserable and felt like an icebox on very cold nights.

I sipped my water and pulled the sleeves of my sweater further down my hands.

Cy cleared his throat and, for the first time in weeks, spoke to me first. “I can talk to Dr. Zorba about a space heater.”

“He’ll never go for it,” I said, putting down my water and wiping my lips with the cuff of my sweater. “He wouldn’t risk a fire or a significant temperature change affecting the specimen.”

“It won’t affect the specimen. It came from space.”

“Exactly. Where it’s cold.”

“Who says the planet it originated from wasn’t able to retain higher temperatures?”

“Like Venus?”

“Exactly like Venus. I mean . . . I’m sure that it’s possible. I’ll look into a space heater.” I watched him expectantly. “What?”

“No Uranus jokes? I’m disappointed.”

“What do you mean?”

I chuckled. “Never mind.” My fingers began clicking against the keyboard again, and I was sure that I’d caught Cy staring at me from the corner of my eye. I glanced over at him. “What?”

“You’re much more attractive when you smile. And your laugh is lovely.”

“Uh . . . thank you.”

“You’re—”

“I’m welcome. It’s okay. I say thank you to you a lot, apparently.”

“I just want you to . . . I don’t know what I want.”

He stared at me for a few moments more then continued with his work. My face caught fire as the blood pooled under my cheeks. My fingers wouldn’t work after that, and I couldn’t concentrate on the numbers.

Cy stood up and left the room without a word. Right about the time I’d decided to get up and look for him, he returned, setting a Butterfinger on my desk.

“Trick or treat, right?” he said.

“Is that a Halloween joke? I mean that’s cool. I just didn’t know you had a sense of humor.”

“I’m surprised you’re here. There are costume parties all over campus.”

I shook my head. “I don’t really do parties. Just once in a while when I’m bored out of my mind, but I avoid Halloween parties at all costs.”

“Why is that?”

“Fake blood. Dead people. Slutty costumes. None of it screams fun to me.”

Cy grinned. “I suppose not. We still have an hour or so of work to do. Would you mind if I walk you home when we’re finished?”

“Why?”

My response took Cy off guard. He blinked a few times and then cleared his throat. “I think that maybe my insistence not to form attachments here was incorrect. We spend a lot of time together down here, and I’d like to get to know you better.”

“So that’s why you’ve been ignoring me? Because you know you’re leaving?”

He hesitated. “In part, yes.”

“What’s the other part?”

He squirmed in his chair. “You . . . intrigue me.”

I wanted to high-five myself. The few times we’d interacted before I thought he was being nice in spite of feeling an extreme loathing towards me. Instead, it was the opposite. To Cy, I was intriguing. I shrugged, trying to pretend I wasn’t irrationally pleased. “If you want.”

He smiled then continued with his work. Despite the difficulty I had focusing, I forced myself to get through the pages of data on my desk. My mind kept wandering off, questioning why I felt so drawn to him. Cy wasn’t my type. He was leaving. His lack of concert T’s told me that we likely had nothing in common. But even then, I had a strong feeling that there was a reason life had thrown us together.

about the author

Jamie McGuire

Jamie McGuire was born in Tulsa, OK. She attended the Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography.

Jamie paved the way for the New Adult genre with international bestseller, Beautiful Disaster. Her follow-up novel Walking Disaster debuted at #1 on the New York TimesUSA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. She has also written apocalyptic thriller Red Hill, a novella titled A Beautiful Wedding, and the Providence series, a young adult paranormal romance trilogy.

Jamie lives on a ranch just outside Enid, OK with husband Jeff and their three children. They share their 30 acres with cattle, six horses, three dogs, and Rooster the cat.

Website • Facebook • Twitter

giveaway

5 APOLONIA ebooks

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wordsmith Publicity