Shewanda Pugh's Blog: The Wandering Mind of a Romance Writer - Posts Tagged "bittersweet"
Counting Down the Release to Bittersweet
We're getting SO close to the release of Bittersweet (Love Edy Book Two). To celebrate, I have a few thrills in store for fans. Starting today, subscribers to my newsletter updates will find out how they can win a Kindle Fire in time for the holidays. Checking in to RSVP for the Bittersweet Virtual Release Party on Facebook will give you chances to grab swag and more on Dec. 9th.
Finally, for those of you who aren't members of my Facebook Fan Club and/or didn't attend the Bittersweet Cover Reveal online, I'm including the Book Two teaser you missed out on. Enjoy!
Bittersweet (Love Edy Book Two)
The fear of not seeing pulsed hotter, truer, and more ferocious than the fear of seeing and knowing. With Hassan’s muscle-bulked body taunt over hers, Edy succumbed to the numbness. Even her breathing came in reluctant swallows. Tires shrieked outside. No, tires screamed their getaway as Hassan’s forehead pressed into hers. In his eyes flamed the fires of desperation.
“Don’t,” he whispered in Punjabi, lips brushing hers. “Don’t move yet.”
“This is the District Attorney, Rebecca Phelps. I have shots fired at my personal premises with one individual in need of urgent medical attention. The address is 2260 Dunberry Street.”
A bubbling, gurgling sound emerged. A wet splat of a cough.
“You probably want to hurry,” Edy’s mother said. “Either that or send the coroner.”
‘Coroner’ punched Edy in the gut. Friend or not, Wyatt wouldn’t meet his end bleeding out on her living room floor. Nor would he do it while her mother blew him off like another stray cat.
Wyatt gasped, as if shocked by some sudden, unseen fright. He began to moan, low, slow drawn out mewls, before a grunt seized him. He stilled.
“Wyatt?” Edy screamed. The second Hassan let her up, she tore for him.
Edy slowed once Wyatt lay at her feet, chalk white and rigid as a high wire.
Dying? Dead?
Yes.
Wyatt coughed, splattering blood on hard chapped lips, on an em dash of a chin, on cheeks of oyster, alabaster, pearl, wax.
Tears flushed him from sight. Edy blinked, inhaled, and shook resolve into play. “Hassan.”
“Yeah?” Already he stood at her side.
“Gimmie your sweater.”
It snagged on his eagerness and tore. Left in a sculpting, bare white tee amidst the whistle of frostbitten winds, Hassan held out his only source of heat to Edy in an offering. Offering her his last.
Edy dropped to her knees and ran frantic hands across Wyatt’s torso, halting at the slick stream painting his rib cage.
Breathe.
“Here,” she said and Hassan fell down alongside her. Together they pressed his battered sweater to Wyatt’s chest, clenching so that their knuckles touched. Edy’s heart strummed, gruesome as a death march, cadence steady despite the task. Her mother stood with her back flat to the wall, eyes narrowed, mouth cork screwed in disapproval. Every so often, she proffered a weak command for them to get away from Wyatt, to let the authorities do their job when they came.
Hassan leaned over him and put an ear to his lips as a single siren wailed long and low, too far, too slow, too late. Warm wetness pooled at their knees, gathering, growing, threatening by the second, and Edy refused to see it or to believe it. Wyatt whimpered. His chest shuddered and he swiped an arm out at thin air.
“I heard you,” Hassan said and jerked backed, burned.
Edy pressed a sopping sweater against Wyatt with all her might and shoved back the vicious lie that said ‘too late, out of time, so long.’ It all felt no good. She shoved harder against his ribs, then harder, and a broken breath escaped him, as if she’d done more harm than good.
She’d always done more harm than good.
Edy wiped her face and the tears ran like blood now.
Hassan stared off, distant, as if waffling between here and there, as he knelt nearby. Edy nearly screamed at him to keep up, to apply pressure, to apply all the pressure, but when her lips parted, he moved: he whispered to Wyatt. Then he went to pull down a curtain.
Up and on his feet he went, away from Wyatt with blood on his cheek and his fitted white shirt, blood flooding the knees of his jeans, and blood like gloves on his hands.
Sirens sliced into Edy’s skull as the hulking hole of night blew every scrap of fabric and scrambled red lights overhead. A bang sounded and then another. Wyatt wouldn’t move. Edy couldn’t see; if only she could stop shaking long enough and really see what was before her, she could make sense of all the red, all the blood, and—and—
Hands pulled at her. Not Hassan’s. Arms wrapped her. Not Hassan’s. Edy swung arms and legs viciously, connecting with bone, hammering to dent; because Wyatt needed saving and no one would stop her.
Rough hands yanked, shoved, and twisted Edy towards the exit as shouts followed her. Screams. Chaos. Don’t move. Don’t move. With the front door battering against the wall, and the window yawning like some forgotten cave, Edy welcomed this at last, the barking cavalry of hell’s legion, chaos at dawn, and the sight of her own personal hell having frozen over at last.
Bittersweet is available for a limited time at a discounted pre-order price on Kindle.
Amazon Kindle
Paperback
Finally, for those of you who aren't members of my Facebook Fan Club and/or didn't attend the Bittersweet Cover Reveal online, I'm including the Book Two teaser you missed out on. Enjoy!
Bittersweet (Love Edy Book Two)
The fear of not seeing pulsed hotter, truer, and more ferocious than the fear of seeing and knowing. With Hassan’s muscle-bulked body taunt over hers, Edy succumbed to the numbness. Even her breathing came in reluctant swallows. Tires shrieked outside. No, tires screamed their getaway as Hassan’s forehead pressed into hers. In his eyes flamed the fires of desperation.
“Don’t,” he whispered in Punjabi, lips brushing hers. “Don’t move yet.”
“This is the District Attorney, Rebecca Phelps. I have shots fired at my personal premises with one individual in need of urgent medical attention. The address is 2260 Dunberry Street.”
A bubbling, gurgling sound emerged. A wet splat of a cough.
“You probably want to hurry,” Edy’s mother said. “Either that or send the coroner.”
‘Coroner’ punched Edy in the gut. Friend or not, Wyatt wouldn’t meet his end bleeding out on her living room floor. Nor would he do it while her mother blew him off like another stray cat.
Wyatt gasped, as if shocked by some sudden, unseen fright. He began to moan, low, slow drawn out mewls, before a grunt seized him. He stilled.
“Wyatt?” Edy screamed. The second Hassan let her up, she tore for him.
Edy slowed once Wyatt lay at her feet, chalk white and rigid as a high wire.
Dying? Dead?
Yes.
Wyatt coughed, splattering blood on hard chapped lips, on an em dash of a chin, on cheeks of oyster, alabaster, pearl, wax.
Tears flushed him from sight. Edy blinked, inhaled, and shook resolve into play. “Hassan.”
“Yeah?” Already he stood at her side.
“Gimmie your sweater.”
It snagged on his eagerness and tore. Left in a sculpting, bare white tee amidst the whistle of frostbitten winds, Hassan held out his only source of heat to Edy in an offering. Offering her his last.
Edy dropped to her knees and ran frantic hands across Wyatt’s torso, halting at the slick stream painting his rib cage.
Breathe.
“Here,” she said and Hassan fell down alongside her. Together they pressed his battered sweater to Wyatt’s chest, clenching so that their knuckles touched. Edy’s heart strummed, gruesome as a death march, cadence steady despite the task. Her mother stood with her back flat to the wall, eyes narrowed, mouth cork screwed in disapproval. Every so often, she proffered a weak command for them to get away from Wyatt, to let the authorities do their job when they came.
Hassan leaned over him and put an ear to his lips as a single siren wailed long and low, too far, too slow, too late. Warm wetness pooled at their knees, gathering, growing, threatening by the second, and Edy refused to see it or to believe it. Wyatt whimpered. His chest shuddered and he swiped an arm out at thin air.
“I heard you,” Hassan said and jerked backed, burned.
Edy pressed a sopping sweater against Wyatt with all her might and shoved back the vicious lie that said ‘too late, out of time, so long.’ It all felt no good. She shoved harder against his ribs, then harder, and a broken breath escaped him, as if she’d done more harm than good.
She’d always done more harm than good.
Edy wiped her face and the tears ran like blood now.
Hassan stared off, distant, as if waffling between here and there, as he knelt nearby. Edy nearly screamed at him to keep up, to apply pressure, to apply all the pressure, but when her lips parted, he moved: he whispered to Wyatt. Then he went to pull down a curtain.
Up and on his feet he went, away from Wyatt with blood on his cheek and his fitted white shirt, blood flooding the knees of his jeans, and blood like gloves on his hands.
Sirens sliced into Edy’s skull as the hulking hole of night blew every scrap of fabric and scrambled red lights overhead. A bang sounded and then another. Wyatt wouldn’t move. Edy couldn’t see; if only she could stop shaking long enough and really see what was before her, she could make sense of all the red, all the blood, and—and—
Hands pulled at her. Not Hassan’s. Arms wrapped her. Not Hassan’s. Edy swung arms and legs viciously, connecting with bone, hammering to dent; because Wyatt needed saving and no one would stop her.
Rough hands yanked, shoved, and twisted Edy towards the exit as shouts followed her. Screams. Chaos. Don’t move. Don’t move. With the front door battering against the wall, and the window yawning like some forgotten cave, Edy welcomed this at last, the barking cavalry of hell’s legion, chaos at dawn, and the sight of her own personal hell having frozen over at last.
Bittersweet is available for a limited time at a discounted pre-order price on Kindle.
Amazon Kindle
Paperback
Love Edy Deleted Scene
I'm back as our countdown to the release of Bittersweet continues. To celebrate, I'm sharing a deleted scene from Love Edy here. Both books are available through Amazon for the Kindle and in paperback.
Love Edy on Amazon
Bittersweet (Love Edy Book Two) on Amazon
Deleted Scene w/ Edy and Wyatt
“Up here,” Edy hissed, a head peeking out from the roof.
Wyatt stepped back, snapped a twig under his Converse, and cursed. The inadvertent looks at the darkened Pradhan home came natural, as he wondered why Edy insisted on meeting on her roof of all places.
“What are you doing?” she hissed. “Come up, already, before someone sees you.”
He had no idea how she got up there and was afraid to attempt without instruction, but didn’t want her to think less of him.
“How do I do it?” he whispered, troubled by the change in his voice that injected a squeak when he deemed it least helpful.
“Use the tree,” she said.
There was an oak that stretched from the grass, jutting branches into windows and sweeping the rooftop. Wyatt looked at it in uncertainty.
“Hurry before someone sees you!”
As if to threaten this, a light came on on the first floor of the Pradhan house. His bladder burned.
“I’m not sure I can do it,” Wyatt admitted, feeling the sweat gather at his pits.
“There’s a knob in the center. Stick your foot there and use the branches to pull yourself up.”
He did as she said and scaled the oak, tumbling onto the roof and nearly hurling up his heart.
He’d never climbed a tree before.
“Shush Wyatt.” She pulled him up with a frown, and stole a look at the Pradhan house. “Do you know how much trouble I’d be in if we got caught?”
“Sorry,” he mumbled and saddled closer to her in the nipping air.
“This is great,” he said. “How long have you been coming up here?”
She shrugged. “Since I was six, I think.”
He was going to ask her if Hassan often joined up there, but refrained, not really wanting to hear the answer.
She had a book and a blanket up there as if she camped out often. When she patted the space next to her, he moved even closer, so they were thigh to thigh. She even offered him a square of blanket, which he took.
“Are you really sad?” Edy asked, eyes big and innocent, glistening with worry.
“A little,” he admitted. “But my mom comes and goes. I'm used to it.”
She screwed off the top on her thermos and handed the steaming liquid to him. They were close now, close enough to share the cup.
Wyatt took a sip. It was cocoa.
“Do you hate her?” Edy said.
It was the question he’d been asking himself, demanding really, in those dark moments. Sometimes, he thought he knew the answer. Other times, he only desperately wanted the answer.
Wyatt drew knees to his chin and sighed. “No,” he said and turned his face to the heavens. The twinkle of a few stars and an over-sized moon hung in a private world meant for two.
Love Edy on Amazon
Bittersweet (Love Edy Book Two) on Amazon
Deleted Scene w/ Edy and Wyatt
“Up here,” Edy hissed, a head peeking out from the roof.
Wyatt stepped back, snapped a twig under his Converse, and cursed. The inadvertent looks at the darkened Pradhan home came natural, as he wondered why Edy insisted on meeting on her roof of all places.
“What are you doing?” she hissed. “Come up, already, before someone sees you.”
He had no idea how she got up there and was afraid to attempt without instruction, but didn’t want her to think less of him.
“How do I do it?” he whispered, troubled by the change in his voice that injected a squeak when he deemed it least helpful.
“Use the tree,” she said.
There was an oak that stretched from the grass, jutting branches into windows and sweeping the rooftop. Wyatt looked at it in uncertainty.
“Hurry before someone sees you!”
As if to threaten this, a light came on on the first floor of the Pradhan house. His bladder burned.
“I’m not sure I can do it,” Wyatt admitted, feeling the sweat gather at his pits.
“There’s a knob in the center. Stick your foot there and use the branches to pull yourself up.”
He did as she said and scaled the oak, tumbling onto the roof and nearly hurling up his heart.
He’d never climbed a tree before.
“Shush Wyatt.” She pulled him up with a frown, and stole a look at the Pradhan house. “Do you know how much trouble I’d be in if we got caught?”
“Sorry,” he mumbled and saddled closer to her in the nipping air.
“This is great,” he said. “How long have you been coming up here?”
She shrugged. “Since I was six, I think.”
He was going to ask her if Hassan often joined up there, but refrained, not really wanting to hear the answer.
She had a book and a blanket up there as if she camped out often. When she patted the space next to her, he moved even closer, so they were thigh to thigh. She even offered him a square of blanket, which he took.
“Are you really sad?” Edy asked, eyes big and innocent, glistening with worry.
“A little,” he admitted. “But my mom comes and goes. I'm used to it.”
She screwed off the top on her thermos and handed the steaming liquid to him. They were close now, close enough to share the cup.
Wyatt took a sip. It was cocoa.
“Do you hate her?” Edy said.
It was the question he’d been asking himself, demanding really, in those dark moments. Sometimes, he thought he knew the answer. Other times, he only desperately wanted the answer.
Wyatt drew knees to his chin and sighed. “No,” he said and turned his face to the heavens. The twinkle of a few stars and an over-sized moon hung in a private world meant for two.
Love Edy is Free Today Plus Free Bookmarks
Hi everyone!
As we countdown to the final hours before Bittersweet is released, I've decided to release a few more surprises. Among them, you'll find that book one of the Love Edy series, Love Edy, is free on Kindle December 8-10.
Love Edy
When Edy Phelps falls hard for her best friend, she knows nothing can come from it. Forget actual chemistry, or the fact that she cherishes his mother more than her own; centuries of tradition say that Hassan will grow up, marry the girl his parents pick, and forget his best friend: the dancer with the bursting smile. Except he can't. In a world erupting with possibilities for the boy with a body of steel and dreams of the NFL, everything seems promised while nothing at all is; when he's denied the girl he wants most.
Two hearts. Two families devoted through generations of friendship. Could Edy and Hassan really risk all that? And yet ... how could they not?
Grab it on Amazon.
Today is the last day to pre-order Bittersweet (Love Edy Book Two) at the discounted price. What's more exciting is that it's the final day before Bittersweet releases! Pre-order on Kindle now and get your copy at midnight.
Bittersweet (Love Edy Book Two)
In the aftermath of one tragic and uncertain night, Edy and Hassan shut out the chaos with a kiss. But when Hassan's traditionalist mother sees that kiss … well, a nightmare of a different sort begins. After all, he still has an arranged marriage on the horizon. Love attacks the glue of their two bonded families; while the slow tug of success pulls Edy and Hassan in opposite directions. After denying their feelings for so long, they now have each other, but are forced to ask themselves if being together is worth it.
Grab it on Amazon.
Free Bookmarks
I'm giving away free bookmarks to those who become a fan and message me a request on Goodreads. I have quite a few, but these are expected to go quickly. They'll be given on a first come, first serve basis. To be eligible, visit my Goodreads profile, click "become a fan" button beneath my picture, and then click "send a message" beneath that (in green). Be sure to include your mailing address in the request, as I won't be able to reply to messages.
Bittersweet Launch Party
Finally, don't forget to drop by the Bittersweet Virtual Launch Party on Facebook all day tomorrow. Author takeovers and nonstop chances to win books, swag, and more will mean this is the party you don't want to miss. Confirmed authors with appearances or giveaways:
Brynette Briskey Turner
Allison M. Dickson
Jenna Fox
Alexa Keith
Ryleigh Andrews
Kaia Bennett
Stephanie Nett
Ella Christensen
Jules Dixon
Rachelle Ayala
Olivia Linden
Victoria H. Smith
Shewanda Pugh
MC Decker
Kathy-Jo Reinhart
And more!
As we countdown to the final hours before Bittersweet is released, I've decided to release a few more surprises. Among them, you'll find that book one of the Love Edy series, Love Edy, is free on Kindle December 8-10.
Love Edy
When Edy Phelps falls hard for her best friend, she knows nothing can come from it. Forget actual chemistry, or the fact that she cherishes his mother more than her own; centuries of tradition say that Hassan will grow up, marry the girl his parents pick, and forget his best friend: the dancer with the bursting smile. Except he can't. In a world erupting with possibilities for the boy with a body of steel and dreams of the NFL, everything seems promised while nothing at all is; when he's denied the girl he wants most.
Two hearts. Two families devoted through generations of friendship. Could Edy and Hassan really risk all that? And yet ... how could they not?
Grab it on Amazon.
Today is the last day to pre-order Bittersweet (Love Edy Book Two) at the discounted price. What's more exciting is that it's the final day before Bittersweet releases! Pre-order on Kindle now and get your copy at midnight.
Bittersweet (Love Edy Book Two)
In the aftermath of one tragic and uncertain night, Edy and Hassan shut out the chaos with a kiss. But when Hassan's traditionalist mother sees that kiss … well, a nightmare of a different sort begins. After all, he still has an arranged marriage on the horizon. Love attacks the glue of their two bonded families; while the slow tug of success pulls Edy and Hassan in opposite directions. After denying their feelings for so long, they now have each other, but are forced to ask themselves if being together is worth it.
Grab it on Amazon.
Free Bookmarks
I'm giving away free bookmarks to those who become a fan and message me a request on Goodreads. I have quite a few, but these are expected to go quickly. They'll be given on a first come, first serve basis. To be eligible, visit my Goodreads profile, click "become a fan" button beneath my picture, and then click "send a message" beneath that (in green). Be sure to include your mailing address in the request, as I won't be able to reply to messages.
Bittersweet Launch Party
Finally, don't forget to drop by the Bittersweet Virtual Launch Party on Facebook all day tomorrow. Author takeovers and nonstop chances to win books, swag, and more will mean this is the party you don't want to miss. Confirmed authors with appearances or giveaways:
Brynette Briskey Turner
Allison M. Dickson
Jenna Fox
Alexa Keith
Ryleigh Andrews
Kaia Bennett
Stephanie Nett
Ella Christensen
Jules Dixon
Rachelle Ayala
Olivia Linden
Victoria H. Smith
Shewanda Pugh
MC Decker
Kathy-Jo Reinhart
And more!
The Wandering Mind of a Romance Writer
This is the official blog of novelist Shewanda Pugh. Author of Crimson Footprints, and in general, works of sweeping interracial/multiracial novels that celebrate culture and diversity, challenge our
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