When it hurts too much to live, how does one find the strength to stay alive and find hope again?
Reiko Nakano has a charmed life. Not only does the twenty-three-old come from a life of luxury because of her celebrity parents and supermodel sister, she’s best friends with the biggest brother and sister pop duo in the world- Gio and Gem Grove. But what the public assumes is wrong different because of what Reiko suffers in private. She feels she’s an outcast in her own family because of her ptosis and her social anxiety. She then makes the biggest mistake of her life and tries to turn her lifelong crush on Gio into something more. His cruel rejection after she lets him take her virginity leaves her heartbroken.
Reiko hides in the least likely of places- the small town of Albee, Pennsylvania. There she enjoys her anonymity and enrolls in summer classes at Maison University. She hopes she can fit in as a student, but life continues to play tricks on her when she’s hit in the face by a football from one of the most popular boys on campus, Will Forest. But this accidental but memorial meeting will help heal her fragile emotions because Will shows her how special she is to those she meets, including him.
She isn’t sure what to make of Will. He’s too nice and sweet, and treats her like gold. She accepts his attempts at romance even though it’s only temporary. But as the summer flies by, she doesn’t want to give Will up, who doesn’t know the truth about her “vacation”. And when Gio arrives in town, and threatens to out Reiko, she has some hard choices to make. Does she come clean to Will so she can decide to finally live on her own terms and embrace the amazing woman Will thinks her to be?
On a corner was a bookstore called Readers Opus. Dad’s latest release stood out among the books in the window. It was pretty cool not only to see his book front and center, but for the store to promote a quantum mechanics title. It had been too long since I’d been inside a bookstore, especially an indie. To kill time in case I still couldn’t find anything to wear for tonight, I entered, loving the library decor and wooden stacks of books with signs above pointing out the genres. I spotted the non-fiction section and went there to find Dad’s books.
Almost all of his books were there. I took out his first release and turned it over to check out his glamour shot, aka his headshot. He looked so young but still dignified. This was the only picture of him smiling. Must have been his excitement at getting published. I snapped a picture of the book with my cell, and went to do the same with the rest to send to him, but then noticed the magazine section behind me. Aya stared at me on the cover of at least three fashion magazines in the front. I snapped a picture of those magazines but shook my head at the absurdity of it.
“Why would the magazine section be near the non-fiction section?” I said louder than I’d intended, but there was no one around to hear.
Or I had thought no one heard. A few feet away Will, the football guy from Maison, sipped an iced-coffee-type drink and held a hardcover book.
“I agree with you100 percent about the magazine and non-fiction section.” He spoke around his straw then released it from his mouth.
“It’s you again.” I’d stated the obvious and mentally slapped my forehead.
“I’m surprised you recognized me with my shirt on and no football.” He strode toward me, giving me a good view of his Iron Steam concert shirt—OMG, he liked the same band I did!—and his vintage olive shorts that showed off his muscular thighs and calves. But what made me want to continue staring at him was the burgundy beanie on his head.
“I’m surprised I recognized you with the beanie,” I replied.
As he came closer, I lowered my eyes to the floor, not exactly from shyness but to catch my breath. He really was cute.
“I would recognize you anywhere with your awesome glasses. Also, we have the same taste in music. I’m a big fan of theirs.”
My love for Iron Steam was well known, but I rarely wore their shirt out since it was my stay-at-home, step-above-wearing-my-pajamas tee. Now, I was glad I’d worn it since it would give me something more to talk about with Will.
“I would have never thought you would be into pop punk. They just started getting popular on the West Coast the last couple of years.” I tugged on the hem of my yellow T-shirt, wishing it wasn’t so faded.
“Why? Because I’m some nerdy dude who accidently hits girls with footballs?” He zoned in on the area of my neck where I had been hit, making my face warm.
I pressed my palm to my shoulder. He thought he was nerdy? “I had a black and blue for a few days, but it’s gone now.”
He winced, and when he lifted his arm to his chest, I got a better look at his book. Dad’s latest release!
“I still feel awful for hitting you.” He glanced from his book to me. “Speaking of nerdy, I enjoy the work of Kobe Nakano. Do you know him?”
I sputtered and cleared my throat to stop from releasing a laugh. If only he knew how well I was aware of the author and his work. He’d get a kick out of it for sure.
“You could say I know him.” I could have revealed my connection, but Will’s reaction would have changed. There would be surprise and compliments thrown my way because I was Nakano’s daughter. He would know about Aya and Mom, and possibility my connection to the Groves. My cover would be blown.
Shirley Anne Edwards is a Northeast girl who first found her love for books when she read Nancy Drew’s The Secret of the Old Clock Tower at thirteen. Shirley found her love for writing at a very young age, and since then has let her imagination run wild by creating quirky characters and vast worlds in her head.
Shirley lives in New Jersey and works in the entertainment industry in New York City.
In the immortal words of Mark Twain: “Life is short, Break the Rules. Forgive quickly, Kiss SLOWLY. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably and never regret ANYTHING that makes you smile.”
Title: Broken Beginnings Author: C. Hallman and J.L. Beck Genre: Dark Contemporary Romance
The night I saved her eight years ago I knew a choice had been made.
Years later and I can’t manage to let her go.
She’s barely eighteen, virginal, and kind.
Touching her would be a sin, but letting another man have her would destroy me.
Every time I close my eyes I see her, standing there, afraid, scared out of her mind because of that one fateful night.
She doesn’t know the lengths I’ve gone to protect her.
The blood spilled, the words said.
Nothing deters my obsession… it’s wrong, immoral, to follow her, and watch her at every turn but I can’t help myself.
Her safety, her life. It’s the only thing of importance to me.
When an enemy lurking in the shadows challenges that I’ll do whatever I can to protect her, even make a deal with a devil, knowing the only way out is death.
Lucca tosses the broken plate into the sink. The sound makes me jump but doesn’t scare me as much as when I look away from the sink and find Lucca advancing toward me. I take a hesitant step back.
Instantly, I’m the prey, and he’s the hunter.
Lucca’s chest brushes against mine, and sparks of desire form low in my belly. I lick my bottom lip, wondering what it would be like to kiss him or if he would kiss me back? I’m so caught up in him, in his scent, his body, what I want him to do to me, that I lose focus for a moment. I can’t let the lust drive me alone.
Dark blue eyes pierce my own, and I break the connection taking a step back, putting a breath of space between us. It’s hard to show him my anger when he’s this close.
“I will not be your prisoner here. I will not be trapped in that bedroom. I’m an adult, but more than that, I’m a human being, not an animal you can keep in a cage.”
“I don’t care how old you are and what you think is best for you…” His voice is deep and soft, causing me to look up from his chest and directly into his eyes. His gaze has softened to a dull knife, and for once, in all the time I’ve known him, I feel like I’m seeing him, the real him, for the first time. His thumb brushes against the apple of my cheek, his touch making my skin heat. “Your age doesn’t stop me from protecting you, nor does it stop me from locking you up in that bedroom and keeping you there until you learn to listen to me.”
Born and raised in Germany, Cassandra moved to the United States when she was eighteen. She always had a love for reading, that love slowly transpired into writing. She put fingers to the keyboard and started writing about the dark side of romance.
J.L. Beck is a USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR, she has written over fifty different romance novels. She started her journey of writing back in 2014 and hasn’t slowed down a second since then.
She’s captivated by real romance, and loves reading about strong “ALPHA” males, as well as sassy heroines that know or may not know what they want. She is best known for delivering a happily ever after but has ended things on a cliffhanger a time or two.
When she’s not typing away at her next book you can find her being a mom to her two adorable kiddos and wife to her high school sweetheart.
She’s obsessed with Starbucks, social media, and is definitely more of a dog person than cat.
A heartwarming, emotionally satisfying contemporary Australian romance with an international flavour, by Amber Jakeman
A fresh start. An instant enemy. But Stella is determined.
Sparkles fly when former office manager Stella Rhees, 30, flees a failed affair with her old boss, Damian. Determined to run her own show, she pursues her dream of creating and selling her own jewellery.
The problem? She’s opened her jaunty stall directly outside the famous Huntleys House of Jewels at the very moment handsome James Huntley the Third, 33, asks her to move so he can stage a publicity stunt. Feisty Stella won’t budge.
Despite a mutual physical attraction, Stella and James become instant enemies, their rivalry fanned by a social media war.
While Huntleys appears prosperous, it’s facing bankruptcy, and James’s mother and playboy brother are squandering the family fortune overseas.
James finds Stella and her fresh ideas irresistible, and she becomes the catalyst for him to change Huntleys’ path of self-destruction. He offers her a job, but how can she accept when she’s vowed to never fall into the old trap of falling in love with the boss?
For Stella and James to find their Happily Ever After, each must overcome personal demons, take risks and learn to trust the other. In this delightful first book of the House of Jewels series, will this dazzling couple ever work out how to put a Huntley engagement ring to its proper purpose?
What? Move? Why would she move? She’d only just finished setting up. It had taken her months to prepare, and so much time just that morning, arranging her earrings and bracelets. What on earth could he mean?
“… just for a short time, thank you,” he said.
Her hackles rose. However handsome he might be, with that sun-kissed brown hair, and that way of smiling just on one side, as if life was a bit of joke as long as he was in control, he had no right to push her around.
“Actually, Mr …”
“Huntley. James Huntley.” He tipped his head back a little, indicating his connection with the three-storey building behind him, and she turned and read the ornate sign. Huntleys House of Diamonds.
Stella sighed. She didn’t reconfigure her whole life, resigning and moving here from Perth on the other side of the country, only to fall into the trap of obeying the next handsome man. No. She’d been there and done that. For too long. She’d been totally, pathetically, at the mercy of her boss Damian’s demands.
Obeying handsome men was a bad habit she’d finally kicked, hadn’t she?
This new Stella was strong and independent, she reminded herself. Stella now worked for herself, trusted only herself and obeyed only herself. She would no longer be told what to do by men who assumed she’d comply. So, whatever this man wanted, and however attractive he might be – and he was, quite attractive, every bit as good-looking as Damian, his hair more fair, and with a bit of a wave at the front, and those eyes – intense – she knew she had every right to stand her ground. And she would.
He waited expectantly, but she was only just ready to trade. With customers gathering, she needed to sell, sell, sell – and not waste another moment. Her licence to trade wasn’t a give away. It would take her months to pay back the loan she’d taken out to pay for it.
He lifted one hand up toward the side of her stack of display trays, as if to test his strength against its weight, to simply push her stall away. She could swear she saw his healthy bicep flex beneath that high quality pale grey woollen fabric.
How dare he! The flame of defiance inside her flashed fire. No. She would not be shoved away.
“Stella Rhys, Mr Huntley,” she answered, keeping her voice low and controlled, and extending her own hand to be shaken. His was smooth, the hand of a businessman, as cool as her own. It was a fine handshake, pleasant even.
Her mother would have fun reading this palm, she thought, smiling. It was a mistake. He must have interpreted her smile as acquiescence. Nodding and smiling in return, he held her hand just a moment longer than necessary.
“Thanks, so much, Stella. These stalls… There was nothing here for months, and suddenly you appear! Today of all days. It’s so good of you to move. Just for an hour or so.” He gave her the full blue gaze again and smiled.
For a moment Stella weakened, but she remembered the advice of Fritz, ther nearest stallholder, who’d welcomed her to the mall only that morning.
“I’ve been here nearly thirty years, young lady,” Fritz had said. “Seen a thing or two in my time. Seen stalls come and seen them go. Can be tough out here on the mall. Don’t you let anyone push you around.”
Stella knew the terms of her licence. Thursday to Saturday, 11am to 7pm. Right here. So she lifted her sunglasses and fired back a dose of her own dark eyes – bright, quick and determined.
“Actually, James,” she began, amiably enough, with a hint of steel. She gestured at the small crowd gathering to admire her unusual brooches, rings, earrings and pendants, all laid out so temptingly in the bright sunshine. Her excitement ratcheted up a notch. Behind James, two older women, sisters perhaps, were pulling out their purses. Her first customers! It was James who needed to move, so she could trade.
“Look. This is my business, James – ‘Stellar,’” she continued, polite yet firm, her voice steady. “And I’m not moving it. Not at all. I don’t mean to be unreasonable; nothing personal; but as I see it, the Huntleys property boundary begins at the edge of your doorway. The mall here is public space, and this patch is mine.”
Partial to sunsets, picnics and poetry, feel-good fiction writer Amber Jakeman was a journalist, ghost writer and editor before succumbing to her addiction to uplifting endings.
She writes from her tiny apartment on the edge of Sydney Harbour, creating wholesome historical and contemporary romance with an international flavour.
When not writing, Amber enjoys time with family and friends, sailing with her husband, travel, walking and savouring other writers’ creations.
Amber Jakeman acknowledges Australia’s first storytellers and offers respect to Aboriginal people past and present and to their descendants.
