by Lori Whitwam
When his lips met mine, I brought my arms up around his neck and let myself relax into the heat of his kiss. He was assertive yet gentle, the bristle of his short beard rasping at my chin and around my mouth. It felt so wonderful to experience this attraction, this connection to someone after so long. It felt even better to trust someone. It made me feel…alive.
After a moment, Ty broke the kiss to whisper in my ear, “This island has everything I need…now.”
My stomach fluttered at his tender words, but the moment was shattered a second later when Rebecca shouted, “Hey, you two, break it up. Let’s move it!”
I chuckled and turned to Ty, taking his hand. We started walking, and I said, “Yeah, come on, Ty. Let’s go bring our family home.”
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I work with a great team of people at Limitless Publishing, especially Jennifer O’Neill, who took a chance on the zombie genre and published the first book in this series, The Dead Survive. Thank you for your trust and encouragement.
In my role as Managing Editor for Limitless, I work with some brilliant, dedicated editors. They teach me something every day about the beauty of well-structured prose. Thank you, Rosa Sophia, Toni Rakestraw, Tiffany Cole, Rachel Whitwam, JoSelle Vanderhooft, and my editor for this series, Darryl Cook.
Ashley Byland of Redbird Designs is an amazingly talented graphic artist, and I’m so fortunate to have her designing the covers for this series. Fabulous work, Ashley!
Thank you to Joshua Guess, whose Living With the Dead series spawned The Dead Survive. He dragged me, shambling and groaning, into the zombie apocalypse world, and I’m so glad he did.
When The Walking Dead is airing, I host a live chat on a private Facebook group, Lori’s Dead Talk, with friends who share my love for all things zombie. Thanks especially to Melissa Jensen and Lisa Shackleford for supporting me in this craziness.
Thank you to Tiffany Elmer for suggesting the perfect name for a character I had to kill. The character wasn’t an arrogant jerk, but I figured if I had to do him in, he should have the name of one.
Big thanks to my beta readers, Heather Whitehead, Theresa McClinton, and Olivia Snow. Having intelligent, thoughtful people read a story before I commit to editing helps find those places that made sense in my head, but won’t make sense to anybody else.
And thank you to all my wonderful editing clients. Working with you makes me a better writer, as each of you sets the bar for excellence higher and higher with each book.
As always, thank you to my readers. Your comments and support mean the world to me, and give me the motivation to keep writing.
About the Author
Lori spent her early years reading books in a tree in northern West Virginia. The 1980s and 90s found her and her husband moving around the Midwest, mainly because it was easier to move than clean the apartment. After seventeen frigid years in Minnesota, she fled to coastal North Carolina in 2013. She will never leave, and if you try to make her, she will hurt you.
She has worked in public libraries, written advertising copy for wastewater treatment equipment, and managed a holistic veterinary clinic. Her current day job, conducted from her World Headquarters and Petting Zoo (her couch) is as a full-time editor for indie authors and small publishing houses.
Her dogs are a big part of her life, and she has served or held offices in Golden Retriever and Great Pyrenees rescues, a humane society, a county kennel club, and her own chapter of Therapy Dogs International.
She has been a columnist and feature writer for auto racing and pet publications, and won the Dog Writers Association of America’s Maxwell Award for a series of humor essays. In addition to zombie apocalypse stories, she has released a contemporary romance novel, Make or Break.
Parents of a grown son, Lori and her husband were high school sweethearts, and he manages to love her in spite of herself. Some of his duties include making sure she always has fresh coffee and safe tires, and convincing the state police to spring her from house arrest in her hotel room in time for a very important concert. That last one only happened once—so far—but she still really, really appreciates it.
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/loriauthor
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ripleygold
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4696047.Lori_Whitwam
Website:
http://www.loriwhitwam.com
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
