Daring Hearts: Fearless Fourteen Boxed Set
Page 1
Daring Hearts
Rebecca Ethington
RaShelle Workman
Cindy M. Hogan
Elle Strauss
Christine Kersey
Juli Alexander
Amber Argyle
Wendy Knight
Elana Johnson
Katrina Abbott
Leigh Talbert Moore
C. L. Stone
Rachel Morgan
Lila Felix
Contents
Introduction
Copyright
Kate Unmasked (Code of Silence Series: Book 1) by Cindy M. Hogan
Blood and Snow 10.1: The Dark Moth Society by RaShelle Workman
Witness by Christine Kersey
Counter Clockwise by Elle Strauss
Paxton Private Investigations by Juli Alexander
Of Ice and Snow by Amber Argyle
The Soul’s Agent by Wendy Knight
Through Glass by Rebecca Ethington
Sketchy Love by Lila Felix
The Faerie Prince by Rachel Morgan
Introductions by C. L. Stone
Something About Love by Elana Johnson
Behind the Stars by Leigh Talbert Moore
Taking the Reins by Katrina Abbott
Thank you!
Introduction
FEARLESS FOURTEEN! Nine All New Novels + Five Bonus Books
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From gorgeous heroes that make us swoon to the super sleuths and feisty heroines that make us cheer, this exclusive collection has something for everyone. Nine clean, sassy and BRAND NEW novels--a delicious mixture of fun, addictively romantic, action-adventure stories -- each handpicked by an award-winning gathering of some of today's most popular YA/NA authors. PLUS five bonus books from Elana Johnson, Leigh Talbert Moore, Rachel Morgan, Katrina Abbott, and C.L. Stone!
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FOURTEEN Bestselling Authors
Nine never-before-released novels + five additional books totaling more than 2000 pages!
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THIS BOXED SET INCLUDES:
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REBECCA ETHINGTON ~ Monsters are real... Through Glass
RASHELLE WORKMAN ~ Alice is a Dark Moth trainee in Wonderland, Arizona where the days are hot and the guys are hotter. Blood and Snow 10.1 ~ The Dark Moth Society
CINDY M. HOGAN ~ Some secrets are better left dead and buried. Kate Unmasked
ELLE STRAUSS ~ Time traveling is wonky enough... and this time it's worse than ever. Counter Clockwise
CHRISTINE KERSEY ~ College is murder... Witness
JULI ALEXANDER ~ Solving mysteries is in her blood, but it might just get her killed. Paxton Private Investigations
AMBER ARGYLE ~ A storm is raging and not everyone will survive. Of Ice And Snow
WENDY KNIGHT ~ Her army of lost souls stand between us. The Soul's Agent
LILA FELIX ~ Fasta is an artist, not by choice, but by force. Sketchy Love
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PLUS FIVE BONUS NOVELS...
C.L. STONE ~ Meet Kota, Victor, Silas, Nathan, Gabriel, Luke and North in a story about differences and loyalty, truth and mystery, friendships and heart-throbbing intimacy. The Academy, ever vigilant. Introductions
ELANA JOHNSON ~ If a picture is worth a thousand words then Olivia's captured Trevor's whole story. Something About Love
LEIGH TALBERT MOORE ~ She did not expect to be kidnapped walking to work. And she never expected to be a hero. Behind the Stars
RACHEL MORGAN ~ Stolen magical object? Check. Villainous faerie bad guys? Check. Complicated feelings for super hot, pain-in-the-ass assignment partner? Check. Not winding up dead? Working on that one. The Faerie Prince
KATRINA ABBOTT ~ Brooklyn's new celebutante boarding school is missing one thing: boys! Taking the Reins
Copyright © 2015
ISBN-10: 1927547482
ISBN-13: 978-1927547489
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
Kate Unmasked (Code of Silence Series: Book 1)
by Cindy M. Hogan
Copyright
Copyright ©2015 by Cindy M. Hogan
First Edition
Edited by Charity West
Cover design by Novak Illustration
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All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, O’neal Publishing.
This is a work of fiction. All the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are represented fictitiously.
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O’neal Publishing
Layton, UT.
Get her newsletter http://eepurl.com/GL2HL
Visit her at cindymhogan.com
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Book Description
Kate Unmasked (Code of Silence: Book 1) by Cindy M. Hogan
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The mysteries of her past consume her.
Seventeen-year-old Kate has never stopped searching for the secrets of her past—the secrets that began with her missing birth parents. After years of every lead drying up and every hope turning false, Kate finally lucks onto a promising lead.
Determined to find the truth once and for all, Kate travels to the gritty New Jersey shore. But what she finds is worse than she ever could have imagined. She can’t hide from who she is, and now she must face the awful consequences of finding the very people she should have been hiding from.
Some secrets should stay dead and buried.
Other Book and Audio Books
by Cindy M. Hogan
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Watched Trilogy:
Watched
Protected
Created
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Adrenaline Rush
Hotwire
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Gravediggers
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Sweet and Sour Kisses*:Formerly Confessions of a 16-Year-Old Virgin Lips
First Kiss
Stolen Kiss
Rebound Kiss
Rejected Kiss
Dream Kiss
1
Kate Hamilton screamed, ripped up the letter, and threw it, aiming for the trashcan. At least half the tiny pieces missed and fluttered to the ground. She stomped on the pieces, trying to grind them into oblivion. Despite her best efforts, the crumpled paper did not disappear when she removed her foot, but slowly rose a centimeter or so as the plush carpet returned to its former glory. Using her foot, she swept the papers to the side, finding no satisfaction or relief.
She slumped down on her bed, all the energy of her sudden outburst drained, and let her arms drop to her sides. Her hand brushed the brittle pages of her journal, a stained, distended composition book, which she’d left open on her pillow that morning. It contained everything she’d learned during the three years she’d been searching for her birth parents. She picked it up and flipped through it listlessly. Despite the fact that its pages were filled with notes, letters, and taped-in photos, it contained no answers. And now, she’d hit yet another dead end. She momentarily regretted ripping up the letter—she should have taped it into this faithful catalogue of failure. But as her eyes settled on the remaining bits of shredded paper, a surge of bitterness rose like bile in her throat, and she flung the journal across the room.
�
��I knew hiring that P.I. was a mistake.” Her mother’s gentle voice drifting in from the doorway startled her, and her cheeks immediately flamed red at the thought that her mother had seen her basically throw a tantrum.
“I’m fine. It’s not a big deal,” Kate said, though it was an effort to keep the tremor out of her voice.
Her mom crossed her arms and pursed her lips together, looking from Kate to the shredded letter to the journal, now splayed on the floor. She raised one eyebrow, but didn’t contradict Kate.
“So, what did it say?”
Kate rolled her eyes and sighed bitterly. She’d only read it once before tearing it to shreds, but the words were seared into her memory nonetheless. “Basically—nothing.” The air conditioner blew a constant stream of cold air across her legs.
Kate was born the year after Texas passed the country’s first Safe Haven law—a law that allowed parents to leave their unharmed but unwanted babies in the hands of state-designated officials with no questions asked. The parent was not required to leave a name, and custody of the child transferred to the state. Safe Haven babies could then be placed in adoptive homes. Kate had been one of those babies.
Her adoptive parents knew next to nothing about her—not even her age at the time she was adopted, only that they thought she was around a year old. The state placed her in a temporary foster home for a few months until they found her adoptive parents—Tom and Abrie Brandon—who were eager to welcome a baby into their home. No one had even bothered to record where her birth parents had dropped her off.
Kate had spent the first years of her search randomly sending out her picture on social media sites, asking people to share her story and help her find her birth parents. That had not gotten her any answers, though it did get her a stalker, a man named John Henry who’d followed her everywhere for a week until her parents found out, got a restraining order against him, and forbade Kate from ever trying that tactic again.
After that, Kate knew she had to try something new. She pestered her mom until she agreed to let Kate go through all of her old baby clothes.
“I don’t know what you think you’re going to learn from this,” her mother had huffed as she brought the small box down from the attic. “I don’t even remember which outfit you were wearing when they gave you to us, not that that would tell you anything, anyway. This is a bit nuts.”
But Kate had examined every piece of clothing doggedly, ignoring her mother’s exasperated sighs. Finally, she found it—a faded yellow t-shirt with pink ducks marching across the chest. Kate remembered the triumph of that moment, the excitement of finally being onto something. She’d held the t-shirt proudly up for her mother to see.
“What am I looking at?”
“Right there! Don’t you see it?” Kate had actually laughed, she was so delighted. She pointed to the tag of the t-shirt, where something was written in faded marker. “It says right there, Mercy Medical Group.” She finally had a clue of where her birth parents had left her.
She spent the better part of the next six months convincing her parents to let her use nearly half her life savings to hire a private investigator to follow the lead. They finally realized she was not going to let it go and, worried she’d start investigating hospitals on her own, they’d finally relented.
She thought bitterly of the two thousand dollars, plus the month she’d spent waiting while the P.I. had investigated every hospital in the chain. She’d been so excited to get his report today, but her hopes had quickly been dashed.
“He tracked the t-shirt back to Junction Hospital, but there was nothing,” she told her mom, trying to keep her voice even. “The Safe Haven law doesn’t require parents to leave any information about themselves or the children they’re abandoning, but I hoped…” her voice hitched and she couldn’t continue. Her mom knew what she hoped, anyway—that the hospital might have required whoever had left her to fill out a medical history form. Even that little bit of information would have given her some clue into her identity, maybe even enough to fill in another piece of the puzzle. But no—there’d been no medical history form.
Her mom sighed. “Kate, I’m so sorry.”
Kate looked up in surprise. She’d expected an “I told you so” and a lecture about practicality. But her mother’s face was filled with compassion, and she looked close to tears herself. She crossed the room somewhat hesitantly and picked up Kate’s journal, then sat down next to Kate on the bed. She started bending the creased pages back into place, her calloused fingers working efficiently to put the book back in order.
“Believe it or not, I do want you to get answers. I just… I hate seeing you get hurt like this. I only want you to be happy.”
“I know, Mom.”
“I think your birth parents—whoever they were—did a courageous thing when they gave you up. Heaven knows how they did it, you were the cutest thing in the world I swear, so it couldn’t have been easy. But they couldn’t take care of you, and so they took you somewhere where they knew you’d be safe. There must have been a reason they didn’t leave any information, and I think… honey, I think you have to honor that.” Kate watched her mom’s capable hands smooth the pages of the journal, and her own hands itched to snatch it back.
Her mother continued, “I know it’s hard—”
Hard? It was torture.
“—not having all the answers. But I think the time has come for you to let this go.” Finally, she smoothed the last page of the journal and closed it, handing it to Kate with an air of finality. “There are no more answers to be found.”
Kate took the book from her. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything aloud, but she nodded. Her mom smiled sadly at her and gave her a quick, stiff hug.
“I know just the thing to get your mind off it,” her mom said. “A little spring cleaning will do the trick, I know it.”
Spring cleaning? She can’t be serious.
Ellie’s text message made Kate laugh, as it echoed her thoughts exactly. After her chat with her mom, she’d told her she just needed a few minutes to gather herself and then she’d be down to help with the cleaning.
You know my mom. She believes in aromatherapy. There’s no bad mood that can’t be fixed with the lovely scent of Pledge.
Your mother is a freak, Ellie sent.
Hey now. Kate’s mom might be a little emotionally illiterate, but Kate knew she was trying her best. It wasn’t easy for her to see Kate so obsessed with finding her birth parents, and Kate hated the pain she knew it caused both her mom and her dad.
Sorry. Meant that in a nice way. Are you really going to give up on this, tho? Ellie texted.
Kate’s eyes flicked to her journal, now perched on the side of her desk. She’d taped the P.I.’s letter back together as well as she could and added it to the next blank page. She couldn’t help noticing there were still quite a few blank pages left to fill—if only she could think of a new avenue of investigation. Her lip curled up in a scowl.
I think I have to. I have nothing left to go off, Kate sent.
Sad face.
Kate rolled her eyes at her best friend’s insistence on typing out descriptions rather than using emoticons. Kate thought it was ridiculous; Ellie insisted it was hilarious.
I really hoped this would work out for you.
I know. Me too. Kate’s shoulders slumped.
Maybe you should call Braxton. Have a mack sesh. It could cheer you up.
Kate rolled her eyes. Not that she didn’t enjoy kissing her boyfriend, but she wasn’t about to tell him she was still looking for her birth parents. Ever since the stalker incident, he was more paranoid about her search than her mom and dad were.
Yeah… don’t mention this to him, okay? I don’t want him getting all weirded out.
I’ll keep your dirty little secret. Winky face. Don’t worry. Tomorrow’s shopping trip will make you forget all about it.
She was wrong, but Kate sent a smiley emoticon back anyway. A life-long obsession couldn’
t be erased by a shopping trip, but it was nice of Ellie to try.
Thanks, El. Time to be a spring slave. Talk later?
Yep!
She stuffed her phone in her pocket and scurried barefoot downstairs, putting on a fake happy face for her mom.
Her mom was making a list at the table when Kate entered the kitchen, and she barely looked up. “Could you help your brothers and sisters get started on their assignments when they get home? I promised Mrs. Oro I’d help her with her garden, and I don’t know how long it’s going to take.” Her mom stepped over to the counter and peeked at whatever was cooking in the slow cooker.
Leave it to her mom to act like nothing had happened. Moving on was just one of her specialties. Kate held back a sigh and agreed, “Sure.” All five kids in Kate’s family had been adopted. Her mother wanted more, but the last two attempts at adoption had failed, and she decided they’d have to be happy with a family of seven, that God believed she had enough and others needed a chance to have families too. At every meal she thanked God for her chance to be a mother to such great kids.
She kissed Kate’s temple with a loud smack and then headed out. Kate looked at the master list of spring-cleaning chores. They’d started last week and would finish at the end of this week. Then came outdoor work. Kate’s chore today was to clean out the mudroom closet. Easy. She looked at her assignment for tomorrow. The basement bathroom. Argh. That was her least favorite. Her mom’s name was scribbled next to the attic for tomorrow. Her mom worked so hard all the time. If she hurried, maybe she’d have time to clean the attic, too. Kate could imagine how happy her mom would be to have an extra hour or so to herself tomorrow if Kate managed to finish it before her mom got back. Yes. She would do that for her mom. She knew that by helping her mom out, she’d also help herself out. Nothing like a little service to lift your spirits, and Kate needed that more than anything after the letter she’d received.