Margo Bond Collins's Blog, page 61
May 3, 2015
Spotlight On: In a World Just Right
In a World Just Right
by Jen Brooks
Release
Date: 04/28/15
Simon & Schuster Book for Your Readers
432
pages
Summary
from Goodreads:
Imagination takes on new meaning for a
uniquely talented teen in this debut novel that is a breathtaking blend of
contemporary, fantasy, and romance.Sometimes Jonathan Aubrey wishes he could just disappear. And as luck—or
fate—would have it, he can. Ever since coming out of a coma as a kid, he has
been able to create alternate worlds. Worlds where he is a superhero, or a
ladies’ man, or simply a better version of himself. That’s the world he’s been
escaping to most since sophomore year, a world where he has everything he
doesn’t have in real life: friends, a place of honor on the track team, passing
grades, and most importantly, Kylie Simms as his girlfriend.
But when Jonathan confuses his worlds senior year and tries to kiss the real
Kylie Simms, everything unravels. The real Kylie actually notices Jonathan…and
begins obsessing over him. The fantasy version of Kylie struggles to love
Jonathan as she was created to do, and the consequences are disastrous. As his
worlds collide, Jonathan must confront the truth of his power and figure out
where he actually belongs—before he loses both Kylies forever.
Buy Links:
Amazon│Barnes
& Noble│Indie
Bound│iTunes
Excerpt
Step one: Squeeze eyes closed.
Step two: Picture world. (That would be the real world this time.)
Step three: Open eyes.
That’s all there is to it.
I’m standing perfectly still in the woods behind Pennington High School, sensing the world around me. Nothing seems out of place. Relief carries away my tension like rain washing down a roof. Whatever was worrying me last night has passed.
I trudge up a path through the woods to the school. Because my house is pretty far away, there wasn’t enough time to walk here and still get to class by the bell, so my sacrifice for a few hours earlier with Kylie is a shower at school.
The back door is always open in the morning, so I sneak inside, grab stuff from my gym locker, and clean up. My shampoo’s not coconutty or pineappley, but it squelches any thoughts my scalp might have about starting a dandruff habit. I wore (mostly) clean jeans to Kylie’s last night, so they’re good to go again today, and the T-shirt I pull out of my backpack smells much better than the one I slept in. Okay. Ready to face another day.
I push open the locker room door as someone else yanks from the outside. There’s a second of shock before I recognize the other guy and try to lighten things with a “Hey, Mark,” but he brushes past me like I’m not there. Not even a grunt of acknowledgment from the kid voted this year’s class chatterbox.
This real-world invisible treatment, after so many years, has lost its sting. The locker room door shuts behind me, sealing me in the empty hallway. I shortcut to my E-Hall locker through the weight room, and a wall of mirrors announces that I, Jonathan Aubrey, do in fact exist. I create a reflection in a real mirror in the real world, so I can only assume I’m not actually invisible.
Granted, invisibility would be a great superpower to have, but world-making will have to do, since it’s the power I got.
About
the Author
Jen
has a habit of being deeply moved by profound ideas, and her writing reflects
her interest in exploring human goodness, relationships, and the feeling of
being a part of something greater than oneself. She loves the science
fiction and fantasy genres because of their dazzling possibilities for
portraying characters and ideas. She credits her undergraduate experience
at Dartmouth College, her MFA at Seton Hill University, and her fourteen years
of English teaching with shaping her writing. She is grateful to her
family, friends, and students for inspiring her to write.
Author Links:
GIVEAWAY:Book Blitz Organized by:
May 2, 2015
May I Suggest Blog Hop ~ Dark Fantasy ~ The Harvesting by Melanie Karsak
Welcome to the May I Suggest Blog Hop! For this hop, I am giving away a copy of the fabulous Melanie Karsak’s dark fantasy novel, The Harvesting.
Check it out below, enter to win, then HOP to the rest of the participating blogs!
“The world, it seemed, had gone silent. It was something we knew but did not talk about. We were alone.”
While Layla Petrovich returns home to rural Hamletville after a desperate call from her psychic grandmother, she never could have anticipated the horror of what Grandma Petrovich has foreseen. The residents of Hamletville will need Layla’s cool head, fast blade and itchy trigger finger to survive the undead apocalypse that’s upon them. But even that may not be enough. With mankind silenced, it soon becomes apparent that we were never alone. As the beings living on the fringe seek power, Layla must find a way to protect the ones she loves or all humanity may be lost.
Join Layla as she fights for survival in the first book of this unique zombie apocalypse tale. It’s all fun and games until someone ends up undead!
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Happy Release Day! Henry Gallant and the Warrior, by H. Peter Alesso
In the 22th Century, the people of the Solar System have banded together against an alien invasion. Unfortunately, they’re losing—badly.
As the only Natural remaining in the genetically engineered officer corps of the United Planet’s fleet, Henry Gallant has unique mental abilities that have proven essential to the defense against the Titan invaders. Nevertheless his fellow officers lack faith in him, and worse, he has angered prominent men by speaking truth to power.
Despite this, Admiral Collingsworth has given him command of the Warrior, the most advanced stealth warship in the UP arsenal and ordered him to the alien’s main base to spy, intrigue, and disrupt their war capacity.
Gallant’s mission leads to risky battles and painful choices, but no choice is more personal, or intimate, than the choice to face your own death. And for Henry Gallant—a flawed young man, in a hopeless situation, against overwhelming odds—a dreadful decision looms before him.
He has only one saving grace—he is unafraid.
Purchase link: AMAZON
About the author:As a scientist and author specializing in technology innovation, H. Peter Alesso has over twenty years research experience at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). As Engineering Group Leader at LLNL he led a team of computer scientists and engineers in innovative applications across a wide range of supercomputers, workstations and networks. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a B.S. and served in the U.S. Navy on nuclear submarines before completing an M.S. and an advanced Engineering Degree at M.I.T. He has published several software titles and numerous scientific journal and conference articles, and he is the author/co-author of seven books. (Website www.hpeteralesso.com)
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May 1, 2015
*Double RITA finalist!* Last year, Clara Kensie’s YA rom...
*Double RITA finalist!* Last year, Clara Kensie’s YA romantic thriller RUN TO YOU series was released as a serial in six installments. Since then, RUN TO YOU was named RT Editors’ Best Books of 2014, and it finaled in the RITAs for Best Young Adult Romance and Best First Book (winners announced in July). Even better, Harlequin Teen heard your demands, and they’ve compiled the serial into two full, complete books! Run to You Book One (originally published in three installments as First Sight, Second Glance, and Third Charm) is now DECEPTION SO DEADLY. The sequel (originally published in three installments as Fourth Shadow, Fifth Touch, and Sixth Sense) is now DECEPTION SO DARK. Clara is delighted to offer up both books in exchange for honest reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.
Fill out this form if you would like to request a review copy!
DECEPTION SO DEADLY (Run to You Book One)
by Clara Kensie
Release Date: 05/01/15
Harlequin Teen
325 pages
Summary from Goodreads:
Originally published as the Run to You serial parts 1-3: First Sight, Second Glance, and Third Charm. Deception So Deadly is the complete first novel in the two-book Run to You series, a riveting romantic thriller about a family on the run from a deadly past and a first love that will transcend secrets, lies and danger…Sarah Spencer has a secret: her real name is Tessa Carson, and to stay alive, she can tell no one the truth about her psychically gifted family and the danger they are running from. As the new girl in the latest of countless schools, she also runs from her attraction to Tristan Walker—after all, she can’t even tell him her real name. But Tristan won’t be put off by a few secrets. Not even dangerous ones that might rip Tessa from his arms before they even kiss…
Run to You is Tessa and Tristan’s story—two full-length books about psychic gifts, secret lives and dangerous loves. Danger. Deception. Betrayal. It must be true love.
Buy
Links:Amazon│Barnes
& Noble│iBooks
DECEPTION SO DARK (Run to You Book Two)
by Clara Kensie
Release Date: 05/01/15
Harlequin Teen
325 pages
Summary from Goodreads:
Originally published as the Run to You serial parts 4-6— Fourth Shadow, Fifth Touch, and Sixth Sense.
Deception So Dark is the complete second novel in the Run to You series, a riveting thriller about a family on the run from a deadly past, and a first love that will transcend secrets, lies and danger…
With no more secrets to keep them apart, Tessa and Tristan embark upon a desperate search to find her missing brother and sister. But not even Tristan can keep Tessa safe from the hostile classmates at her new school…or from the nightmare that haunts her even while she’s awake. As Tessa’s nightmare becomes all too real, her hope of getting her family back together feels ever more out of reach. When a psychic warns her that leaving town may mean her death, Tessa still cannot stay when she uncovers a potential lead to her brother and sister. Not even if she must go alone and risk losing it all: Tristan, her family, and even her life.
Run to You is Tessa and Tristan’s story—two full-length books about psychic gifts, secret lives and dangerous loves. Danger. Deception. Betrayal. It must be true love.
Buy Links:Amazon│Barnes
& Noble│iBooks
About the Author
Clara Kensie, author of dark fiction for young adults
…don’t forget to breathe…
Clara Kensie grew up near Chicago,
reading every book she could find and using her diary to write stories about a
girl with psychic powers who solved mysteries. She purposely did not hide her
diary, hoping someone would read it and assume she was writing about herself.
Since then, she’s swapped her diary for a computer and admits her characters
are fictional, but otherwise she hasn’t changed one bit.
Today Clara is the author of dark
fiction for young adults. Her debut series is the romantic thriller RUN TO YOU:
Deception So Deadly and Deception So Dark.
Her favorite foods are guacamole and cookie dough. But not together. That would
be gross.
Find Clara online:
Website Twitter Facebook Tumblr Instagram Goodreads Newsletter
Find the RUN TO YOU series at your favorite e-tailers,
including:Amazon B&N iBooks Google
Play Books Kobo
GIVEAWAY:
Book Blitz Organized by:
Cover Reveal: November Sky, by Dannielle Wicks
November Sky (Hardest Mistakes #2)
by Dannielle Wicks
Release Date: 05/19/15
Limitless Publishing
Summary from Goodreads:
A
HEARTBREAKING LOSS.
A LOVE THAT TRANSCENDS MORTALITY.
A STRUGGLE BETWEEN HOLDING ON AND LETTING GO…
KRISTIAN REED is only seventeen years old when his girlfriend, JESSICA SCOTT,
dies in a tragic accident. Devastated and burdened with guilt, he finds it
impossible to move on.
Six years later, he’s not doing any better. He’s accepted a prestigious
internship at a big city new station, but he’s still losing himself in alcohol
and women to numb his pain.
BAILEY NICHOLS is assertive and annoying, but something draws her and Kristian
together. Her brother hates him, but Bailey is used to getting what she wants.
She knows the pain of losing people you love, and she’s determined to break
through Kristian’s emotional wall and prove they belong together.
Jessica is caught between worlds. She can’t let go of Kristian, but she’s not
meant to be here, and her lingering is threatening everyone and everything
around her as she begins to lose herself to the darkness.
Book One:(linked to Goodreads)
Buy Links:
Amazon│Barnes
& Noble
About the Author
Dannielle Wicks currently lives in the town of
Kingaroy, Queensland in Australia. She is a TV show nerd and lover of cars.
She’s always had a love for writing, even in school. She used to hide her
writing notebook inside her textbooks just so the teacher wouldn’t notice what
she was up to. She loves reading, especially paranormal romance. When she’s not
writing or working, she competes in Speedway Sedan Racing across the
state.All of the books in the HARDEST MISTAKES series are based on a different main
character, so you don’t really need to read them in order, although all the
characters link back to each other in some way…
(P.S. if you ever reference any of my books or myself on a social media site,
be sure to use the
#HardestMistakes
hashtag or @DWicksAuthor)
Author Links:
Cover Reveal Organized by:
Spotlight On: Wolf Hunter by Linda Thomas-Sundstrom
Paranormal Romance
Date Published: May 2015
Sworn enemies fated to be supernatural lovers…
Only a few know about a race of Lycans hidden deep within Miami‘s underground. And those who do not embrace the wolves seek to destroy them. Cameron Mitchell has sought to protect his kind…at any cost. But one beautiful woman may be his undoing.
Born into a family of wolf hunters, Abby Stark has never actually confronted a Lycan. Then Cameron steps out of the shadows and Abby is overcome with the need to be devoured. With her father vowing to destroy all of Cameron’s kind, Abby knows they have no future. Coupling with a were is not her destiny. Yet walking away is proving impossible.
About the Author
Linda is the author of contemporary, paranormal romance, and urban fantasy books for Kensington, Amazon Montlake, GothicScapes, Harlequin Nocturne, and Harlequin Desire. She loves more than anything to write, and has a resident Muse who loudly sings all these stories to her.
Linda swears that all of her books come loaded with good karma for the readers, for helping to support her writing dreams.
Contact Links
Website
Goodreads
Purchase Links
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Harlequin
Kobo
iTunes
Giveaway
$10 Amazon gift card
a Rafflecopter giveaway
April 29, 2015
Audiobook Release: Compulsion, by Marina Boone
Compulsion (The Heirs of Watson Island #1)
by Martina Boone
Release Date: 10/28/14
Narrated
by: Joell A. Jacob
Length: 11
hrs and 29 mins
Simon Pulse/Tantor Audio
448 pages
Summary from Goodreads:
Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead–a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.
Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family’s twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.
Buy Links:
IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon |
Target
| Book Depository | Goodreads
Audio CD via Tantor
| Audio
CD via Amazon | Audio
via Audible
Listen to an audiobook sample:
Praise
for Compulsion:
“Skillfully blends rich magic and folklore with
adventure, sweeping romance, and hidden treasure . . . An impressive start to
the Heirs of Watson Island series.” —Publishers Weekly
“Eight Beaufort is so swoon-worthy that it’s
ridiculous. Move over Four, Eight is here to stay!” —RT Book
Reviews, RT Editors Best Books of 2014
“Darkly romantic and steeped in Southern Gothic
charm, you’ll be compelled to get lost in the Heirs of Watson Island
series.” —JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT, #1 New York Times bestselling
author
“A fresh twist on the Southern Gothic —
haunting, atmospheric, and absorbing.” —CLAUDIA GRAY, New York
Timesbestselling author of A Thousand Pieces of You and
the Evernight and Spellcaster series
“A stunningly magical debut with a delicious
slow burn to be savored. I want to live in this story world!” —WENDY
HIGGINS, USA Today and New York Times bestselling
author of the Sweet Evil trilogy
“Beautifully written, with vivid characters, a generations-old
feud, and romance that leaps off the page, this Southern ghost story left me
lingering over every word, and yet wanting to race to the compelling finish. Compulsion is
not to be missed.” —MEGAN SHEPHERD, author of The Madman’s
Daughter
Book Two:
PERSUASION (HEIRS
OF WATSON ISLAND, BOOK 2)
Beautiful
Creatures meets Gone With the Wind
As reporters
chasing rumors of a stolen shipment of Civil War gold descend on Watson Island,
Barrie Watson discovers more is buried at Colesworth Place than treasure. A
mysterious, magical man claims the key to the Watson and Beaufort gifts and the
Colesworth curse also lies beneath the mansion, and Barrie has no option but to
help him find it. While she and Eight Beaufort struggle to make sense of the
escalating danger and their growing feelings for each other, Barrie must decide
not only whom to trust, but which gift is more reliable—Eight’s or her own. With the fate of the founding families
at stake, she has to choose between what she feels deep in her heart and what
will keep her loved ones safe.
Pre-Order Links:
IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads
About the Author
Martina Boone was born in Prague and spoke several languages before learning English. She fell in love with words and never stopped delighting in them.
She’s the founder of AdventuresInYAPublishing.com, a Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers site, and YASeriesInsiders.com, a site devoted to encouraging literacy and all this YA Series.
From her home in Virginia, where she lives with her husband, children, and Auggie the wonder dog, she enjoys writing contemporary fantasy set in the kinds of magical places she’d love to visit. When she isn’t writing, she’s addicted to travel, horses, skiing, chocolate flavored tea, and anything with Nutella on it.
Author Links:
Website | Blog | Tumblr | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | TwitterGIVEAWAY:
Book Blitz Organized by:
April 28, 2015
Swoon Romance YA Wednesdays: How To Series by Cassie Mae Book Blitz with Giveaway #ReadSwoonRepeat
Welcome to this week’s
Swoon Romance YA Wednesdays!
This week features
How To Series by Cassie Mae!
Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!
Zoe has a great pair of legs, perky boobs, and wears exactly what she needs to show it all off. She works hard for the easy sleazy ‘you only wish you were me’ reputation, burying who she really is—an all-out nerd.
The only time Zoe gets to be herself is when she hides under her comforter to read X-Men comics, sending jealousy stabs at everyone who attends Comic-Con. Keeping up her popular rep is too important, and she’s so damn insecure to care about the consequences. But when Zoe’s sister takes her car for a ‘crash and burn into a tree’ joyride, her parents get her a replacement. A manual. Something she doesn’t know how to operate, but her next door neighbor Zak sure as heck does.
Zak’s a geek to the core, shunned by everyone in school for playing Dungeons and Dragons at lunch and wearing “Use the Force” t-shirts. And Zoe’s got it bad for the boy. Only Zak doesn’t want Popular Zoe. He wants Geek Zoe.
She has to shove her insecurities and the fear of dropping a few rungs on the social ladder aside to prove to Zak who she really is and who she wants to be… if she can figure it out herself.
How to Date a Nerd by Cassie Mae
Publication Date: September 2014
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Available for Purchase:
Sierra Livingston’s got it bad for her sister’s best friend, Levi Mason—the boy who carries his drumsticks in his pocket, marches with the school’s band, and taps his feet to whatever beat runs through his head. Sierra racks her brain for ways to impress the sexy drummer, but the short skirts and bursting cleavage don’t seem to cut it.
When Sierra gets paired with Levi’s sister, Brea, for a mentorship program, they strike a deal. In exchange for Sierra keeping her mouth shut about Brea ditching the program, Brea lets Sierra dig for more info on Levi to help get the guy of her dreams.
But when Sierra discovers Levi no longer plays the drums, his family has moved into a trailer, and he’s traded in his Range Rover for a baby blue moped, Sierra’s not sure if she can go through with violating his privacy. She’ll have to find the courage to ask him straight out—if he’s willing to let her in—and explore other ways to seduce the school’s band geek.
How to Seduce a Band Geek by Cassie Mae
Publication Date: May 2014
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Available for Purchase:
Cassie Mae (who dons the name Becca Ann on occasion) is the author of a few hundred… okay, maybe not that many… books. Some of which became popular for their quirky titles, characters, and stories. She likes writing about nerds, geeks, the awkward, the fluffy, the short, the shy, the loud, the fun.
Since publishing her bestselling debut, Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend, she has published and sold books to Random House, Swoon Romance, and Spencer Hill Press. She has a favorite of all her babies, but no, she won’t tell you what it is. (Mainly because it changes depending on the day.)
Along with writing, Cassie likes to binge watch Teen Wolf and The Big Bang Theory. She can quote Harry Potter lines quick as a whip. And she likes kissing her hubby, but only if his facial hair is trimmed. She also likes cheesecake to a very obsessive degree.
Author Links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Complete the Rafflecopter for a chance to win!
Cover Reveal: Palace Secrets, by Ravyn Rayne
Title: Palace Secrets
Series: Palace Secrets #1
Author: Ravyn Rayne
Publisher: Blushing Books
Expected Publication: June 6, 2015
Love comes in many forms and always at a price.
At twenty-three, Princess Isabella must settle down for the sake of her kingdom. Caught up in a secret affair with her lady-in-waiting, Hannah, the princess knows it can only last for so long.
When Prince Alexander arrives to court her, he confides that his father is on his death bed, and he will be crowned king soon. Isabella hastily agrees to the proposal, desiring to be queen, knowing little about her soon to be husband.
Murder, secrets, and lies combine with menage, spanking, and erotic encounters in this steamy medieval romance.
EXCERPT
Teardrops fall from the sky as I sit in my room with the window open, watching the dirt road into the castle. Prince Alexander, from a neighboring kingdom, is scheduled to arrive at court today. It’s no secret I’ve made things difficult for the last prince that courted me. I can’t remember his name, only his beady eyes and putrid breath. I have no desire to tie my heart down.
The thought terrifies me to no end.
There’s a knock at my door and I shut my window, keeping the mood from seeping inside. Silly superstitions.
“Princess Isabella,” Hannah says, greeting me with a curtsey. Her blonde hair is braided intricately across the top of her head and down her back. I wonder who did her the honor. She’s wearing my favorite color on her too, a deep rich blue that accentuates and compliments her pale blue eyes.
I pull her into my room, slamming the door shut behind her. Hopefully no one saw her entrance. If they did, we can surely think up an excuse for her presence in my room. Unlike a boy, there’s no rules being broken having Hannah alone in my chambers. Lucky me.
Without thought, my lips descend onto hers, shoving her forcefully against the door.
Hannah is not shy, though she pretends to be around my parents. I don’t blame her, they are intimidating and also the king and queen of our land.
“You have to tell your father King William,” Hannah whispers between kisses. Her fingers slip against the back of my neck, moving my dark locks to one side. Hannah’s rosy lips fall against my bare skin, kissing a path up to my ear. “It’s the only way we can be together.”
“He’ll never allow it,” I say and sigh letting my eyes shut. I worry that confessing my feelings for her might result in her banishment from our kingdom. It’s not only the fact Hannah is a woman and our relationship is forbidden, there’s also the issue that she’s a lady-in-waiting.
She’s not of royal blood and I’m to marry a prince and strengthen our alliance. Nothing can ever develop between us more than lust and romance.
About the Author
Ravyn is a sassy, fun-loving, and adventure-seeking young woman. She loves to travel and can’t wait for her next vacation, wherever it might be.
Ravyn writes romantic erotica. She began writing romance novels in college, spending her down time either reading a book or writing fiction. Please don’t make her choose between the two, she loves them equally.
Although BURNING DESIRE is her debut romantic erotica novel, it is not her first published book. She has been published professionally since 2013. You can find her other books here.
Follow Ravyn: Blog | Facebook | Twitter
For less steamy reads, you can follow her here: Blog | Facebook | Twitter
Spotlight On: December, by Linda Oatman High
DECEMBER
Linda Oatman High
Contemporary YA Romance/Bullying, 54k
~Editor’s Pick~
Lake Millay has goals, hopes, and dreams…until she moves to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and becomes ensnared in a vortex of violence.
Bullying and stalking become Lake’s life, and ultimately the destroyer of her dreams.
A cautionary tale based on the true story of Laurie Show, murdered by three teens in 1991.
Buy Links: Evernight Teen Amazon ARe
Excerpt:
“This gazing globe’s really old, like from the 1800s. People believed that a witch couldn’t sneak up on you when you were looking into the dome.” The voice comes from nowhere and from everywhere, and an electric bolt of fear buzzes through my body. My heart thunders, filling my chest and ears. I’m dizzy, numb with shock, not able to move.Then a face appears––a face––blurring and blending into my own in the rounded silver of the globe. I scream, filling my body and my heart and my ears, and I leap and fall backwards, banging hard into flesh and bone: a person.I scream again and fall on my knees in the mud.“HELP! NO!”“Man. You’re jumpy. Sorry if I scared you.”
It’s a girl, just a scrawny anorexic-looking girl, about my age, fair-haired and pale, with fake-looking cobalt-colored eyes. She’s one of those girls with an upturned little nose and perfect teeth. Flawless complexion. Makeup. Teeny-weeny, clean white shorts. Tanned cheerleaderish legs.
I gasp, trying to catch my breath.
“You scared the crap out of me.”
“Man, you scare easy.” Knuckles on hips, she cocks her head to the side, pale hair falling over those bright blue eyes.
I press my hand to my heart. Puke climbs up my throat, and then slides back down again.
“What are you so jumpy about? There’s nothing to be scared of around here. Not like it’s an epicenter for crime.”
There are definitely shades of cheerleader in this girl, yet none of that high-pitched perkiness. Clouds of sadness seem to be leaking from her eyes and her smile and her voice, despite the faultless exterior. A tiny diamond-like chip glints on her nose.
“We don’t even lock our doors around here,” she says.
I heave myself to a standing position. My heart’s still racing in a marathon of terror.
“What did you think I was?” the girl asks and I shrug.
“A wacko. Weirdo. Murderer. You never know.”
She barks out a laugh.
“All of the above,” she says. “You better run.”
I try to smile.
“Here,” she says, reaching down to pluck a flower. “Peace offering.” She holds a red-nailed hand toward me––her thumb and finger, daintily holding the stem of the red flower.
I take it. Our fingers graze.
“Servants also used these gazing globes to be sneaky and watch their bosses,” the girl says. “Pretty far-out, huh?”
I’m still shaking, but I nod.
“Cool shirt. I can tell that you’re not from around here.”
I look down, suddenly super-aware I’m about fifty pounds bigger than this chick. This makes me irritable, and I shove the red flower into the pocket of my shorts.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” I ask. “Don’t they have laws about trespassing around here?”
“Just checking out the new neighbors,” she says with a shrug of bony shoulders. Her voice is like cornhusk: raspy and rough.
“Where’d you come from?”
“Over there.” She points with her sharp little chin. “Through the field and to the left. When the corn’s down in the winter, you can actually see our place.”
“Okay.”
“I’m Brit Dannon,” she says. “Brit with one T, not two. You’re the new preacher’s kid, I presume? Got any pot?”
“What?” I almost laugh.
“Got any weed?”
“No, I . . . don’t smoke.”
“Man. You really aren’t from around here. What’s your name, anyway?”
“Lake Millay.” There’s a final feeble clank of thunder, like beaters in an empty metal bowl, and then the sun comes out, shining. Brit Dannon seems to shimmer: shiny hair and makeup and nails and that perfect-girl sparkly shirt, with sequins spelling out the word Princess.
“Welcome to Badger Gap, Lake Millay,” she says. “The Center of the Universe! The most happenin’ location on the planet! The place that’s going to freaking change your life!”
About the Author:
Linda Oatman High is an author/journalist/playwrightwho lives in Lancaster County, PA. She’s published more than 20 books for
children and teens, and her books have won many awards and honors, including
VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) “Perfect Ten” awards. Linda also writes for
adults, and her short story NICKEL MINES HARDWARE, based upon the Amish school
shootings of 2006, was honored in England in 2012 with the Sunday Times EFG
Short Story award shortlist. Linda holds an MFA in Writing for Children and
Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and she presents at schools
from K-college both nationally and internationally.
www.lindaoatmanhigh.com lohigh@frontiernet.net
Giveaway: $10 Evernight Teen Gift Certificate and 1 Signed Print Copy
