"The plot was gripping and will suck you in right from the start. The story is told though flashbacks and at different ages. This novel will have you hooked and at the edge of your seat until the very end and it will leave you wanting more. OMG....what a cliffhanger. I can't wait for book 2.Begin with You was a fantastic read and I would highly recommend it. " - K. Ramjohn, Goodreads
Published: July 24th, 2018
From the outside, Abby’s life looks like a fairytale.
Loving family, wealthy lifestyle, education at a prestigious university. The truth? She’s barely managing to survive. Few know the nightmare she lived before she was adopted. And no one knows the secret agony that still haunts her nightmares.
With a degree from Berkeley, she could have gone anywhere, but she’s back in Colorado. Not for a fresh start—fresh starts are only an illusion—but for Wes Ahern. Her protector, who throws around words like “therapy” and “talk to me.” Her brother in every way but blood. The one man she wishes could be so much more.
Maybe, just this once, she can stop running from her demons.
But does she dare let Wes see inside the darkest closets of her pain…or will love be the biggest mistake of her life?
EXCERPT
I can pinpoint the moment when
Abigail Lyons lost her optimism. It was the day her grandmother died. That’s
when I began to talk about myself in third person, imagining the worst that
could happen and learning to dissociate when my brain couldn’t handle the
input.
It was the same day I stopped
laughing with ease and speaking my mind confidently. At sixteen though, that’s
when I went quiet for good. The day I lost all hope, became swallowed by
loneliness—leaving nothing more than a scared bundle of nerves who wanted to
jump out of her own skin. At twenty-three not much has changed. But I try to
hide my flaws and fears. Somedays I’m brave enough to fight against my mind to
conquer the latter. Other days, I’m not so lucky.
He might be right about those
statistics. But logic doesn’t apply to my phobia. Every time a plane takes off,
my heart beats faster than a cheetah hunting for her next meal and sweat drips
down my back. Honestly, I’m not afraid that the plane will lose altitude or
collide with another aircraft. I fear that I’ll crash emotionally during the
flight. The question for me isn’t whether or not the pilot loses control. My
mind is asking, what if I have a full-blown panic attack in an environment
where I don’t have control or any
means for emotional release?
When the pilot announces that
we’re allowed to turn on our laptops and move around the cabin, I put on my
wireless headphones and turn on my music. If I’m lucky, the two glasses of wine
I downed before boarding, plus the one I drank before takeoff, might help me
sleep during the almost three-hour flight. If I’m asleep, I won’t have to think
about the people around me. Or the possibility of him finding me once I’m back in Denver.
My throat tightens at the mere
thought of seeing him again. I shut
my eyes, squeezing them hard. My body trembles. It’s been so long that he
shouldn’t have any effect on me. I count, controlling my breathing. But it’s
impossible to calm myself when the images of what happened that night come back. The voices are back too. My heart beats
wildly.
Please, God, help me.
Not now.
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About the author:
Claudia is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author. She lives in Colorado, working for a small IT. She has three children and manages a chaotic household of two confused dogs, and a wonderful husband who shares her love of all things geek. To survive she works continually to find purpose for the voices flitting through her head, plus she consumes high quantities of chocolate to keep the last threads of sanity intact.
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1 comment:
Sounds good.
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