Description:
After escaping her abusive parents, nineteen-year-old Kenna Sloane is determined to create an independent life, free of emotional distraction. The last thing this focused college student wants is a relationship, especially with a hot rookie cop popular with the badge bunnies.
When Kenna reluctantly agrees to a double date with Santa Monica cop Donovan Alexander, she’s launched on an exciting and dangerous journey. With time, she discovers some souls are instinctively drawn together to quiet the pain of their traumatic pasts. But even after the revelation of Donovan’s own secret burden, Kenna continues to battle the fear she may be too broken for her modern day knight in blue.
Can Kenna open her heart to the healing light of true love before peril strikes?
This book was funny, sweet, heartwarming, steamy, passionate, and little heartbreaking. It just had me smiling and feeling all warm inside. I can't get enough of Donovan and Kenna, but I like to know more about Danielle and Tyler too. I will patiently be waiting for book two and can't wait too see what's in store for them. - Goodreads
EXCERPT
It’s
midnight, the day after my eighteenth birthday, and I’m escaping from my life
of oppression and pain. With only the fear of being caught and dragged back to
my cell of a life, I’m shortening the gap between what I know and the
undiscovered world ahead.
The
August air whips across my face and through the loose strands of my pulled-back
hair. My internal will to survive, fueled by adrenaline, propels me forward
into the night with no feeling of cold or discomfort. The wind stings my eyes
and they begin to tear, blurring my vision as I sprint along the walking path
between the condos and boat slips in the Marina, one foot in front of the other
pounding the pavement. Thump, thump, thump. The same beat of my excited heart.
After
two blocks I realize they’re not chasing after me. I slow to a fast walk,
scanning the area ahead and behind me. My chest is heaving as I try to catch my
breath and regain my thoughts, but I’m not tired. I could run for miles if I
need to, and I will fight tonight to protect myself and my freedom.
I sweep
the area one more time before ducking into the shadows of the next condo
complex. Catching my breath, I lean against the wall of the entrance, pull out
my pay-as-you-go cell phone, and call Danielle and her mom—my lifeline, my ride
to freedom. This is it. I pace nervously under the cover of night, still on
high alert, and wait for the transportation to my new life. Pumped from the
adrenaline surge, my thoughts are spinning and making me dizzy, but assuredly I
won’t be coming back here anytime soon, if ever.
#
Dropping
his hands from my arms, Donovan gestures his hand around the room. “This is
where I come to get away and lose myself or to just think. I can work out here
for hours. There’s something about working with your hands” – he flashes me a
devilish grin, grabbing at my waist and pulling me into him – “that clears the
mind.”
I yelp
at his manhandling and giggle trying to squirm out of his hold. Donovan at
first tightens his grip on me, smiling salaciously, but then with a wicked
glint in his eyes his posture changes and he starts tickling me on the sides.
“No! Stop it!” I screech. But he continues his pleasurable torment, working one
hand down to the back of my thigh. “Donovan! Please stop. I can’t take it. I’m
going to pee my pants.” With my final plea he drops his hands.
We stand
quietly facing each other, chests heaving from the short burst of excitement.
With a wild gleam in his eyes, Donovan leans down and throws me over his
shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Donovan Alexander!” I scream in protest. “You
put me down!” He ignores my demand and carries me out of the workshop and over
next door.
“You’re
so cute when you get all indignant. You want down?” he says and slowly lowers
me to the floor inside his bachelor pad. I’m standing facing him with my body
pressed against his. His eyes are searing into mine and his hands are securing
me in place at the waist. My chest is rising and falling with deep, steady
breaths [...]. I’m so turned on
by his caveman gesture of dragging me back to his den against my will. At this
moment I want him to take me. A primal need exists deep within my body for
Donovan to bury himself inside me and quite the dull ache that’s been building
in my groin since the first day I’ve laid eyes on him.
There is
no denying the raw sexual attraction to Donovan. And this is one area I can
tell he isn’t passive about—sex. In public he is the perfect gentleman, so
polite and respectful. But behind closed doors I bet an alter ego exists. He is
commanding, passionate, and insatiable. I don’t know what makes me think this
with my limited experience, but something tells me he is going to be the same
in bed and I don’t know if I can wait any longer to test my theory. My
self-control is waning after a delicious dinner with this perfect man and his
perfect TV family. If he wanted to take me right here and now, it would be the
dream ending to the evening.
#
I shift
my body to face Donovan squarely. My eyes soften in sadness. He scans my face
with tightness in his troubled eyes and a turned-down mouth. “I was worried you
would lose respect for me once you learned of my secret and maybe even decide
to move on,” Donovan admits.
How
could he think I would move on because of this secret? If anyone should be running,
it’s him. I’m damaged goods. I’ve built walls around me so high I’m starting to
wither from the constant shadow cast on my being. But Donovan has already
helped me break through some of my walls and I’m being drawn toward the sliver
of steady light streaming in that is him. We are both injured souls from our
pasts. Maybe together we can help heal each other and walk hand in hand toward
the happiness that we both deserve.
“Donovan,
I’m falling for you, too,” I declare with certainty. “And it scares me, but
your honesty and trust with your secret make me feel like we are both starting
at an equally vulnerable place and only good things can come from this point
forward.”
Donovan
gives me a half smile, zeroing in on his target of my lips. We lean toward each
other with electrifying passion, pouring our unrestricted feelings into a kiss
that never ends. He guides our bodies down to his bed and adjusts his torso
over mine. The intensity of the kiss increases and we are all lips and tongue
and teeth everywhere.
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About the author
Since childhood, Kaitlyn Stone has gravitated toward fairy tales and happily- ever-after's, forever chasing the first love dragon. She is a self-professed adventure junkie, constantly talking her husband and family into some new life adventure, where they’ve learned to just buckle up for the exciting ride. When they do stay home, it’s in sunny Southern California located along the Pacific Ocean.
Author's Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card
$25 Amazon Gift Card
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