The Color of Us (College Bound #2) by Laura Ward & Christine Manzari
Release Date: June 20, 2016
Synopsis:
Eighteen
year old Alexis Sinclair is lost in the darkness of grief. Since the death of
her sister in a car accident, she can’t find the will to get out and enjoy life
again. When she’s forced to face her biggest fear and take a summer Driver’s Ed
course, she’s surprised to find hope in the most unlikely person.
Liam
O’Connell is trouble. He isn’t proud of his dark past, and he knows Alexis is
the one girl he has no business pursuing. Doing the right thing has never been
easy for him, but this time, it just might be impossible.
The perfect
girl and troubled boy are all wrong for each other, but as Liam helps Alexis
cope with her grief, they realize nothing has ever felt more right.
That is,
until Alexis uncovers a secret about Liam that breaks her heart.
Liam knows
he can’t allow the one good thing in his life to walk away without a fight, and
he’s determined to convince Alexis they can find their way out of the darkness
together.
Can he prove
he’s worthy of her, or is some love too tainted to be saved?
Excerpt:
He took a deep breath. “Our lives are completely
different, Lex.” He raised his hand in a loose fist, running the backs of his
fingers along my jaw. My breath caught in my chest as his thumb stroked over my
skin in slow, gentle circles. “So different.”
He stared into my eyes, and I leaned forward, mirroring his posture. I placed
my hand on his jaw. His chin was rough with stubble and tight with worry.
“Help me
understand.” My voice was needy, begging, but that’s only because I was
desperate to figure him out, to unlock th secrets he kept close. I wanted to
know how he could be the sweet, patient boy who taught me to drive and then
beat the living hell out of his friend a few days later. It didn’t add up for
me.
He reached
up to grab my fingers that were still touching his cheek, and he adjusted them
so that he was holding my hand. “I didn’t grow up the way you did. The only
thing I could ever depend on were my fists. That’s how I protect myself and
those I care about. Yeah, Adam’s my boy, but he crossed a line. Said something
he shouldn’t. And in my world, when that happens, you teach a lesson. That
lesson usually means blood.”
I cringed at
his bluntness and then felt guilty about it. He’d said our lives were
different, but that didn’t mean mine was better than his. I had no right to
look down at him. Too many people already did that. In my world, there were
lessons and punishments too. They were more calculated and less physical, but
they were no less vicious. Like Melissa’s threat to get her father to have Liam
fired from the country club. When I thought about it, I wasn’t sure which
lesson was more cruel—fists or social war.
“What did
Adam do to make you so mad? Was it because you wanted to hang out with me
instead of going to the levees?” God, I
hope not. That’d be the overreaction
of the century.
Liam shook
his head and traced patterns on my jaw with his thumb. “It’s not important,
angel. Just know that when you’re with me, you’re safe. No one hurts you. No
one touches you.” He leaned forward, letting his lips hover next to mine. “If
anyone tries to hurt you, I’ll make them pay. I mean it.”
A chill
skittered down my spine. The passion in his words was so strong that the air
around us was charged with unspoken promises. Why would Liam feel such a fierce
need to protect me? It frightened me that I enjoyed it so much. I swallowed.
“Why did you call me angel?”
He tilted
his chin up and pressed his lips to my forehead and then trailed kisses down my
face, stopping to press his mouth to the corner of mine. He leaned back to let
his eyes scan the length of me, head to toe, as he grinned. “It’s hard not to
think of you as an angel when you’re dressed all in white and looking so
goddamn perfect. You’re so… good.” He shook his head with a sad smile. “I have
no right to want you as much as I do.”
His eyes
darted to my lips, and then his mouth was on mine again, stealing the words I
wanted to say—I’m not perfect… I’m not
good… I want you too. He sucked on my lower lip, pulling it into his mouth
with such gentleness I thought I might melt into a puddle on his floorboards.
How could so much rage be wrapped up in this much tenderness?
My hands
snaked around the back of Liam’s neck, and I moved to bring his mouth back to
mine, grazing the tip of my tongue against his. I could faintly taste the smoke
of his cigarette, but I could also taste the sugar of the funnel cake we’d
shared. He was a heady mix of danger and sweetness that was so uniquely Liam it
made me crave more. I slid my tongue against his again, and Liam’s groan was
the only warning I got before his mouth was devouring mine, demanding kisses
from me that I was only too happy to return.
“You even
taste good,” Liam murmured against my lips before dropping his face to the
curve of my neck where he nibbled along my skin, leaving goose bumps in his
wake. “I want to taste every single inch of you. I think I’m addicted.”
His lips
pressed against my pulse point, and I was sure he could feel the frantic
beating of my heart. My entire body felt like it was vibrating for him. I
couldn’t decide what I wanted more—for him to keep whispering his precious
thoughts against my neck, or for him to go back to worshipping my lips.
As if he
knew my inner turmoil, Liam trailed a slow pathway of kisses up my neck toward
my greedy mouth.
“You look
like an angel,” he said, whispering a kiss under my ear. His quiet words
trickled down my neck in a delicious shiver. “You act like an angel, too good
to be true.” He left a kiss on the side of my jaw before turning my face to
his, his lips hovering over mine with so much heat I thought he might burn me
when he finally kissed me. “You’re my angel, Lex. And I think you just might
save me.”
Author Info:
Laura Ward lives in Maryland with her loud and
very loving three children and husband. She married her college sweetheart and
is endlessly grateful for the support he has given her through all their years
together, and especially toward her goal of writing books. When not picking up
toy trucks, driving to lacrosse practice, or checking spelling homework,
Laura is writing or reading romance novels. Her debut novel, Not Yet
, is a Top
100 Amazon Bestseller.
The first
thing Christine does when she's getting ready to read a book is to crack the
spine in at least five places. She wholeheartedly believes there is no place as
comfy as the pages of a well-worn book. She's addicted to buying books, reading
books, and writing books. Books, books, books. She also has a weakness for
adventure, inappropriate humor, and coke (the caffeinated, bubbly kind).
Christine is from Forest Hill, Maryland where she lives with her husband, three
kids, and her library of ugly spine books.
Goodreads
Come To Me by Mary Catherine Gebhard
Series: Owned #3
Release Date: May 26, 2016
Synopsis:
What happens after the happily ever after?
Is it really sunshine and roses?
For Vic Wall, the moon is rising and the roses are wilting.
Turns out the princess has a mental illness.
Lennox Moore is in his blood and bones,
But sometimes blood goes bad and bones break.
Vic wants to fix them,
Is determined to find what turned their love cancer.
Yet maybe the only way to continue,
Is to end.
This is the
epic final installment to the Owned series.
Warning: Sometimes people are ugly and what they do even uglier, even to the
ones they love.
Excerpt:
I remembered
reading something about people who raise horses, that there are two kinds: the
ones who breed them, and the ones who tame the wild ones. The ones who tame the
wild ones can’t even imagine breeding them, because there’s a certain magic
that’s lost.
I got that.
Watching Lenny completely slack and cave to me was a high. I would never tame
her—you can’t really tame a wild thing—but there were moments like this. Her
wild words fell from her lips, her coiled body loosened, and she waited for me,
her master, to give her her next command.
“Are you
ready?” I whispered, taking her earlobe between my teeth.
“Yes,” she
gasped.
Author Info:
Mary Catherine
Gebhard bites off more than she can chew and sometimes calls herself Eva
Natsumi. She's lived in Salt Lake City, Utah her entire life, but occasionally
goes on vacation from reality. Don't worry, she sends postcards.
