14+ "Willow's story is as complex as it is rich and decadent, yet somehow, despite the troubled subject matter, it remains tender. It will break you down, and then build you back up again, feeling all the stronger for it. A must read!" - Goodreads
Published: February 10th, 2015
“Breathe. No one will break me. I’m strong. Breathe. Just breathe.”
On the outside, Willow appears to have it all. She’s beautiful, smart, from an influential family, and she dates the most popular guy in school—Jaden. But she would walk away from it all in a second. Willow is tormented by lies and suffocating guilt, not the hearts and flowers people believe her life is full of.
She carries a dark secret. Plagued by nightmares and pain, the secret dominates her life. If she hadn’t walked away. If she had just…but she didn’t. And now she has to live with her choice. But when someone uncovers her family’s past, they use it against her, crushing her spirit little by little. She tells herself she just has to make it to graduation. Then she can leave Middleton, and her secret, far behind.
When Brody transfers to Cassidy High, he turns Willow’s life upside down. He shows her what it feels like to live again, really live. And suddenly, she isn’t satisfied with just surviving until graduation. She wants a normal life—with Brody—and he wants her. But the closer they become, the more it threatens to unravel the secret she’s worked so hard to hide.
Willow finds true love with Brody. Will she let his love save her, or walk away from him to keep her secret safe?
EXCERPT
I was lying across my bed, working on my calculus,
when my phone chimed. I grabbed the phone off the table next to my bed and
smiled.
BRODY: whatcha doing?
ME: calc. you?
BRODY: same. wanna talk?
ME: sure.
My phone rang just a few seconds later. “Hello?”
“Hey,” Brody said, his voice sliding over me like
velvet rope. It caressed me as it squeezed the air from my lungs.
“Hi.” I cringed when my voice came out all squeaky
and breathy. “When you asked if I wanted to talk, I thought you meant texting.”
“Oh. Sorry, we can hang up and just text.”
“No! No, it just surprised me when the phone rang.
So, what did you want to talk about?” I asked him.
“What are you wearing?” he whispered.
“Um, what?”
He laughed loudly into the phone. “I’m kidding,
Willow,” he said when his chuckles faded.
“Oh, you were kidding? I was totally gonna to tell
you if you told me…” I let my words trail off.
I heard him inhale. “Um, I think we need to move
on to safer, more friend appropriate topics.”
I laughed. “Okay, you pick the topic.”
“Do you have a TV in your room with satellite?”
Brody asked.
“Yes.”
“Good. Turn to channel 235.” I flipped to the
channel Brody suggested. “Oh, I’ve wanted to see this movie.” I pulled the
blankets back on my bed and slipped under them, bunching the pillows behind my
back.
“Good, I haven’t seen it yet either. We can watch
it together.”
“Are you in bed?” I asked.
“Yeah.” His voice came out huskier than
normal. “This is new. It’s kinda fun.
Only, there’s one thing missing,” Brody murmured.
“It is fun. What’s missing?”
“You. I wish you were here, not there.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to say. I was glad he
couldn’t see me because I was grinning like a fool. “Look. That’s just cheesy,”
I said.
“It’s a movie about zombie aliens. I think we
passed cheesy a long time ago. Oh, look at her. Now we’re getting somewhere.”
“You’re such a perv.”
“What? I’m a guy and she’s hot. If she’s going to
walk around naked, I’m gonna look and appreciate the fine job God did
assembling her.”
“Ugh. Whatever.” I rolled my eyes.
“Stop rolling your eyes.”
“I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. I heard it in your voice,” he said
with a laugh.
“Oh! What do we have here? It’s the male species
joining the bimbo in the shower. Mmm, he’s nice to look at. Great butt.” I
sighed.
“Now who’s the perv?”
“Me. I never said I wasn’t.”
Brody laughed. “Good to know.” He cleared his
throat, and his voice was a little huskier than normal when he said, “Love
scene.”
Our easy teasing ended while the television played a very hot love
scene—how it got only an R-rating was a miracle. I watched it on my television,
hearing the moans and sighs from Brody’s television echoing through the phone.
Awkward.
I could hear every breath Brody took. I could tell
when his breathing sped up. I heard the small groan he made and the rustle of
blankets and I wondered what was making him uncomfortable, the love scene or
watching it with me on the other end of the phone.
I should
stop talking now. Shut up! Shut up!
He sighed. “About you? Always.”
“I really do want to know what you’re wearing.” I
bit my lip, waiting for him to say something. The sounds of the love scene
still filtered through the phone.
“Mm. You’re making it very difficult for me to
keep things G-rated between us,” he murmured.
“I know. I feel the same.”
“Fight scene. Ooh, did you see that arm fly across
the screen?” Brody asked a little too loudly.
“Yeah. Gross.”
Finally.
That love scene was killing me. I never thought I’d be so happy to see arms and
legs blown off.
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About the author:
Michelle is the bestselling author of the young adult novel “PODs.” She was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, but now lives in a sleepy suburb outside Houston with her extremely supportive husband, three school-aged children, a 125 pound “lap dog,” and a very snooty cat.
Red Bull or Monster Khaos are her coffee of choice, and she can’t write without peanut butter M&Ms and a hoodie. A hopeful romantic; she loves a swoon-worthy ending that will give her butterflies for days. She writes across genres in the young adult and new adult age groups. She loves to hear from her readers.
Michelle signed her new young adult contemporary novel— Unspeakable, with Clean Teen Publishing in 2014.
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