by Nalini Singh
Some secrets are best left locked away in the past….
Alexa Kendrick has no recollection of the car accident that left her scarred and sent her life careening wildly off course. When the half-sister she thought she’d never meet shows up at her door with an invitation to a new life, Alexa finds herself in Florence, Arizona, a town notorious for being populated with more prison inmates than actual citizens…a town that has done its best to hide its own dark secret.
After Ellie is called out of town, she leaves her sister with the keys to her flower shop and Alexa finds herself swapping lives with her sibling: running Ellie’s business, living in the house left to them both by their absentee father…and forging a smoldering relationship with sexy-as-sin penitentiary officer, Nate Fury—a man with his own demons.
But arranging flowers by day and tangling with the only man who has ever seen her real self by night isn’t enough to silence the mysterious panic that fuels Alexa’s dark dreams. When Nate brings home a book written by an inmate, one describing an unspeakable crime, the shackles binding Alexa’s own lost memories begin to shatter. And as the devastating truth comes to light, she realizes that Nate holds the key to unlocking her past, as well as her heart.
Stupid Girl by Cindy Miles
Only fools fall in love…
After her senior year of high school leaves behind nothing but heartache, Olivia Beaumont escapes to Winston College—only to fall head over heels for cocky baseball star and Boston Southie, Brax Jenkins.
Special Excerpt:
Butterflies slammed against my stomach the whole walk down, and it irritated me. It wasn’t just anxiousness about seeing Brax. It was just the idea of going out with a guy. Any guy. And the closer I got to the parking lot, the more nervous I became. The more I wanted to turn around, run and hide. No matter if it was just a friendly dinner, that I was now a freshman in college and not a dumb high school teenager. Why couldn’t I just be calm, cool, collected? I willed those qualities to fall on me, and fast. To infuse in my DNA and make me full of confidence. After a few deep breaths, I had it together. I crossed the common room to the doorway, and pushed it open. And those newly summoned qualities fled the moment I laid eyes on him.
Braxton Jenkins straddled his motorcycle just in front of the walkway. His helmet was off, shades on. Faded jeans, the bottoms cuffed. Black boots. White tee shirt. Black leather jacket. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I knew the moment he saw me. A wide, white smile split his face in two.
The butterflies returned, full force and rabid, with teeth gnashing.
Holy God. I couldn’t do this.
Beaumont! Breathe, girl! Nutcracker! Nutcracker!
The entire silly conversation with Tessa from the night before poured into my brain and instantly calmed me. Just thinking the safe word made me smile. I couldn’t help it. It was just so damn funny. Anyway, it eased my nerves. I walked up to Brax, calm and cool. Friends. Nothing more.
“Hey,” I said. “So you won. How’d the pitching go?”
Whatever expression his eyes held was hidden behind those shades. “Bitchin’ as always. We spanked ‘em good. Nice blouse there, Gracie.”
I smiled, and his face launched into another heart-stopping grin. I inclined my head toward my truck. “Thanks. Let me grab my glasses and jacket.”
Brax said nothing, and I felt his eyes score a jagged blazing hole into my back as I walked toward my truck. It unnerved me a little, but I pushed it aside. I opened the door, and leaned in across the seat to grab my faded denim jacket and shades. Jamming the key in and locking it, I headed back toward Brax and his bike. His eyes were still hidden, but I knew his gaze followed me. I shrugged into my jacket, which, at this time of evening in August I highly doubted I’d freeze my ass off without. “Ready,” I said. I slipped my bag cross-ways over my head and shoulder, and plopped my keys in.
“Come here, Gracie,” Brax said.
My heart slammed. I stepped closer.
Brax reached behind him and retrieved a helmet. He slipped it over my head and snugged it down tightly, tucking my braid inside. I was glad he still wore his shades as his face drew closer and secured the strap under my chin. Those eyes, so close, would’ve made me squirm in discomfort. I stared at myself in their reflection, and at his fingers nimbly moving with the black nylon strap. I noticed a few scars I hadn’t seen before, small nicks that had turned silvery white with age. Definitely a roughened face, yet I had a hard time looking away. He smelled good; recently showered, light cologne. I drew a deep breath. Then another. It barely worked to settle me. My lungs just kept filling up with … him. Unavoidably, my eyes dropped to that mouth. Another breath …
Copyright Information
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2014 by Nalini Singh
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 permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
eISBN: 978-1-625175-39-7
Cover image by: Jenn LeBlanc/Illustrated Romance
Cover design by: Croco Designs
