Excerpt Reveal | Red by J. M. Walker

 
 

Title: Red

Series: A Brett MacLean Duet #1

Author: JM Walker

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: May 7

 

It started without trust. Passion. Lust. An all-consuming need; that was all we had in the beginning. Lies. Betrayal. Deceit. We moved past it all and fell in love anyway. 

Over ten years later, with a family of our own, our little world was perfect. Happy. 

But then that happiness faded away when she came into our lives. 

No control. No power. Just heartbreak and unwanted submission. 

We were forced to our knees at the sight of her. The words falling from her lips were like nails digging at our soul because we knew. 

We would have to go through hell to get out of this. 

And even then, I wasn’t sure if it would be enough.

Prologue

Brett

Our world ended when she came into our lives. No control. No power. Just heartbreak and unwanted submission. We were forced to our knees at the sight of her. The words falling from her lips were like nails digging at our soul because we knew there was no way out of this.

It wasn’t her fault. None of it was. She was a lowly pawn in this fucked up world we called life. There was nothing any of us could do but wait.

Ever since I was a small boy, I had made it my mission to be in control of everything around me. My career. Women. Sex. Money. Alcohol. I strived to be an asshole so no one could get into my heart.

And then she appeared.

Short. Blonde, curly hair. Deep blue eyes that looked into my very soul and knew my secrets before I ever told her.

Evvie Neal was my one, my only.

I tried so hard to be in control when really, she was the Master and I was the ever-willing slave. She captured my heart, reached inside my chest and brought it back to life just by the sound of her laugh.

But as soon as we were happy, as soon as we let our guard down, the foundation of our love cracked.

We worked damn hard for it and I would do everything in my power to build up the walls of our love and make her happy again.

Even if it meant leaving.

For good.

   

 

J.M. Walker is an Amazon bestselling author who loves all things books, pigs and lip gloss. She is happily married to the man who inspires all of her Heroes and continues to make her weak in the knees every single day.

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Sneak Peek at Salt & Stone (Fire & Flood #2) by Victoria Scott!!

Hi guys!! Today I have something really exciting to share with you all!! It's a sneak peek at Salt & Stone (Fire & Flood #2). I read Fire & Flood last January and loved it!! I've been waiting to read book two. It's coming out this month. Yay!! So here is an excerpt for you all to enjoy!! :) 

Excerpt

I swallow and stare at him in the dark, my entire body itching to feel his touch. When I see the anticipation in his stance, the way he looks at me as if I’m both infuriating and appealing — it makes me feel powerful. But when he takes a step in my direction, that power plummets to some place untouchable. Now I’m a seventeen-year-old girl again, standing in the shadows with someone who feels like he’s lived three lives to my one.

“Come with me,” he orders.

There’s no room for refusal, and I don’t want there to be. He takes my hand to help me step over sleeping bodies, both human and Pandora. When I stumble, he leans over and sweeps beneath my knees. I’m brought into his arms with the same ease I may use to curl a rabbit to my chest. But I’m not such an innocent, silent creature.

I’ve got spirit and fire in spades. Though, right now, as he carries me to the single back bedroom, I have neither. I’m somebody else now. I’m Tella Holloway, Boston girl turned Montana transplant, sitting on the edge of her bed, awaiting her very first date with the boy who makes her parents uneasy. A boy who doesn’t speak nearly enough, but when he does, this girl stops and listens. In my mind’s eye, I’m wearing the silver-sequined dress that’s hibernated in my closet far too long. I feel beautiful and confident, and who cares if he said we’re going to the lake at night? I want to glimpse the look on his face when he sees me. I envision how his entire face will light up as if it’s lit from within. How his full lips will part slightly and his cold blue eyes will soften.

Guy sets me on my feet, and I gaze up at him.

Oh yes. Right there. That’s the look I imagined.  

© 2015 Victoria Scott.  From Salt & Stone by Victoria Scott, published by Scholastic Inc.  All rights reserved. 

Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott ~ Final Sneak Peek!!

Fire & Flood (Fire & Flood #1) is coming out on February 25th! I received an ARC for review and absolutely loved it! So I am so excited about this book being released to the masses! In my inbox this week I received the Final Sneak Peek before Fire & Flood releases! Today, I am going to share that with you! 

 

Excerpt:

“If you are hearing this message, then you have successfully completed the Pandora Selection Process. It also means you are now at the official starting line.”

Around me, Contenders whoop with excitement. Seriously? They’re about to plunge into a wild jungle, and that brings them happiness? Once again, I realize how out of my league I am. I don’t even have a change of clothes, for crying out loud.

“As you may have realized, you are on the outskirts of a rain forest. This will be the jungle part of the course. You will have two weeks to arrive at the jungle’s base camp. You will find this base camp by following the path of blue flags.”

Contestants glance around, immediately looking for the first blue flag. As for me, I’m watching the taillights of the semi and having a massive coronary.

“If you are the first to encounter a blue flag, you may remove it, but you may not remove the stake it is attached to. Doing so will result in immediate disqualification.”

I wonder why anyone would want to remove the flag to begin with. No one else seems concerned by this.

“While the Cure will be awarded to a single winner at the end of the last ecosystem, we will bestow a smaller prize for each leg of the race. The prize for the jungle portion will be monetary.” The woman pauses dramatically. “I’d like to officially welcome you to the Brimstone Bleed. May the bravest Contender win.”

That’s it? That’s all she’s going to say? Because it seriously sounds like she’s wrapping up. So why aren’t I running after the trucks? Why am I not chasing after my only way out of this jungle like my life depends on it? I know the answer — though I wish I didn’t. Cody would do this for me. I am his only hope. I have to believe his cure exists. My only other option is to return home and watch my brother die. If I could even get back home.

I glance around frantically, looking for someone to tell me what to do. The Contenders have formed a long line, the kind you see at the start of a marathon. A few yards down from where I stand — I see him. My throat tightens when I realize his cold blue eyes are locked on me. It’s the guy from the Pandora Selection Process. The serial killer–looking dude who I thought was going to kidney punch me. He glares in my direction like he might take this opportunity to finish what he never started. I raise my hand in a small wave, hoping it says something like: See? Look how friendly I am!

He lifts his own enormous hand. For a moment, I brighten. I think maybe that — even though it looks like he hates every fiber of my being — he’s going to wave back. But he doesn’t. He holds up two fingers — his pointer and his middle — places them under his eyes, and then points in front of us.

Oh no, he didn’t. I think he basically just told me to pay attention. I’m still processing this when the woman’s voice rings in my ear.

“Go!” 

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I am just so excited for this to be released! I think that it is most definitely worth grabbing yourself a copy - or maybe pre-ordering. ;) 

<3 Amanda Leigh

Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott ~ Bonus Scene Reveal!

Hello everyone! I am posting this much later than every other VMafia member has but I knew that I had to share it on my blog. It is a bonus scene from Victoria Scott's new novel (coming in 2014) Fire & Flood! You will not find this scene in the actual book! So enjoy it! :) 

FIRE & FLOOD Bonus Scene

Harper Shaw, Minor Character

The Brimstone Bleed started four hours ago, give or take. I’ve traveled as far as necessary for now, put adequate distance between myself and the other Contenders. There will be plenty who travel without stopping, without making a plan.

Idiots.

Like the others, I don’t know anything about this race, only that I need the prize—the Cure—more than I need my own beating heart. I can still remember my mother’s words as I left our home.

“I don’t know where you think you’re going, Harper,” she said. “But you can’t just leave us like this. Not now.”

But I did leave. It’s not like I could tell her about the invitation. Or explain what would happen next. Because the truth was, I didn’t know. Two days ago, I was lounging on my bed, listening to Linkin Park and watching MTV on mute. Today, I’m here, in a jungle, fighting to save the most important person in my life.

A caw rips through the late afternoon, and the dense canopy overhead rustles. I breathe in the smell of rich, damp soil that is almost invigorating. The air is thick and damp and clings to my skin, and everywhere I look is a plant I’ve never seen before. The world is a canvas of purple vines and orange flowers and greenery that swallows the ground beneath my feet. It’s both horrific and captivating at once.

Every few seconds, I stop to swipe insects off my skin. It doesn’t bother me. I’m not the squeamish type. The only thing I’m worried about is the egg in my Brimstone Bleed issued bag. A Pandora, the device said. An animal that will help me win this competition. My heart roars in my chest when the bag against my hip stirs once again.

Now that we’re alone, I drop to my knees and remove the egg. When I see a prominent crack down the side, my entire body buzzes with anticipation. I’ve never had a pet before. Not a dog, not a cat…not even a goldfish. And now I’m supposed to travel with an animal that could potentially save my life and Lillian’s? It’s hard to absorb.

The egg cracks again, and I freeze. My hands hover over the iridescent shell, unsure of what to do. But this Pandora doesn’t need my help. It’s eager to escape its prison, eager to fulfill its destiny. I admire its tenacity already, but my stomach churns wondering what my Pandora will be like. Will it be ruthless? Endearing? Will it make it so that I don’t feel utterly alone?

The egg burst open and I fall back, a gasp escaping my throat. I glance around to ensure we are alone. And when I look back, my hands shaking, my eyes widening, I see it—

A feather. 

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Excerpt Reveal of Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott and a GIVEAWAY!!

I got an e-mail today from Victoria Scott with the first excerpt reveal of her newest novel, to be published by Scholastic, Fire & Flood. Here it is! 

FIRE & FLOOD by Victoria Scott

Scholastic, February 2014

First Excerpt Reveal

I drove across the US of A, left my family without an explanation, and now I’m either too late or there was never anything here to begin with. F my life. Rearing back, I kick the door as hard as I can. Then I wrap both hands around the door handles and release a noise like a wild banshee as I pull back. 

The doors swing open. 

I’m not sure whether to celebrate or freak out. I decide to do neither and slip inside. As I walk around the inside of the museum, listening to the sound of my footsteps echo off the walls, I imagine I am moments from death. It’s sad, I think, that this is all it takes to break my sanity. 

Two curling flights of stairs bow out from the first-floor lobby, and red and white tiles cover the floors. There are gilded picture frames everywhere. So many that I think the placement of the frames — and not their contents — is the real art. Everything, absolutely everything, smells like wax. I mosey up to an abandoned reception desk and leaf through the glossy pamphlets littering the surface. I hold one of the pamphlets up to my nose. Yep, wax. 
I glance around, having no idea what to look for. Will there be a sign like at school registration? Students with last names A–K this way?

On my left, I notice a long hallway dotted with doors on either side. Nothing looks particularly unusual. But when I glance to my right, I spot something. There’s a door at the end of the corridor that has a sliver of light glowing beneath it. I’m sure it’s just an administration office, one where someone forgot to flip the switch. But I’ve got nothing better to go on, so I head toward it. 

I pause outside the door, wondering if I’m about to get busted for B&E. Then I turn the handle and find myself at the top of another winding staircase. 

You’ve got to be kidding me. What is this, Dracula’s bachelor pad?

I’ve watched a lot of scary movies, and I’ve learned nothing good is ever at the bottom of a winding staircase. Pulling in a breath and preparing myself to be eaten alive, I head down. My shoes are loud against the steps. So loud, I imagine they are intentionally trying to get me killed. 

When I reach the final few stairs, I ready myself to look around the bend. My heart is racing, and I secretly pray the worst I encounter is an angry janitor with a wax addiction. I turn the bend — and my eyes nearly pop from my skull. 

The enormous room is perfectly circular, dotted with candles to light the space. Surrounding the walls are rows and rows of dark, rich mahogany bookshelves. A large round table stands in the center of the red-and-white-tiled floor. The room is spectacular, but what it holds is so jarring, my ears ring. 

Across every shelf, every spot on the table, every tile on the floor — are small sculptures of hands. And in a few of those hands — the ones still performing their duty — are eggs. There are only nine eggs left, it seems. For a moment, I imagine how amazing it would have been to see each hand holding an egg, but it’s enough just to see these nine. 

The eggs seem to dance in the candle flame, and as I move closer, I realize why. The surfaces of the eggs are almost iridescent, their colors changing depending on how you look at them. They are different sizes, too; some as big as a basketball, others as small as a peach. 

I don’t need the device in my pocket to tell me what my gut already knows. 


This is the Pandora Selection Process. 

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<3 Amanda Leigh