Released August 4, 2014
New Adult Contemporary Romance
1) LOST IN ME is FREE through the ALL FOR THIS
tour!
2) ALL FOR THIS will be $2.99 on release day
and $3.99 thereafter.
**ALL
FOR THIS is book three in the Here and Now series. It is not a stand-alone and
it’s intended to be read after LOST IN ME and FALL TO YOU.**
What if you would
never remember the day you made the most important decision of your life?
That’s what
they’re telling me about the day of my accident—the day I put on Max’s ring and
chose him over Nate. I’m counting on the wisdom behind a decision I don’t
remember making.
Max is amazing—sexy,
sweet, and kind. I was starting to believe happily-ever-after might be in my
future after all. Then the unthinkable happened and my world imploded. If I’m
going to make this work with Max, I need my missing memories, or at least
answers from about those five days before my accident.
But what does
my future hold if those answers aren’t anything like I imagined?
EXCERPT
**SPOILER ALERT!**
The following excerpt from ALL FOR THIS
by its very nature contains spoilers for the first two books in the Here and
Now series, LOST IN ME and FALL TO YOU. If you hate spoilers and haven’t read
the first two books, don’t read any further.
***
Hanna
“Where’s Hanna?” I know the voice, and an unwelcome
thrill dances up my spine as Nate pushes into my kitchen and stalks toward me.
“Customers aren’t allowed back here,” Liz says
behind him.
“Don’t do it,” he says, and those dark, broody
eyes are all over me like he’s trying to take me in, memorize me.
I take a deep breath and look to my sister. “You
should probably go.” Then I turn to Nate. “Don’t do what?”
“Um…” Liz looks Nate up and down. “Are you sure?
Because I can stay to protect you. Or…try.” God bless her, she’s standing
behind Nate with her hands on her hips, ready to swing on my behalf.
“Why don’t you give us a minute?”
She narrows her eyes at Nate. “Hurt her and I’ll
cut off your balls in your sleep.” Then she pushes out of the kitchen, the door
swinging wildly behind her.
“Don’t move in with him,” Nate says.
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
“I thought you said you weren’t moving forward
with Max until after the babies were born. Don’t you think moving in is moving
forward?”
“I don’t know where you get your information, but
I’m not moving in with him.”
“You’re not?”
I shake my head. “He asked me to, and I said no.”
He must have been expecting a fight, because his
shoulders relax and he drags a hand through his hair. “Thank you.”
I toss my washcloth into the sink. “Is that all?”
“No.” He lifts his eyes to mine. “I need to
apologize.”
“For what?”
“For this.”
In two long strides, he closes the space between
us and presses his mouth to mine. His lips are hot and hungry as his tongue
sweeps inside—coaxing and demanding all at once. And it’s so good. So sweet and
easy and safe that, for a breath, I forget how wrong it is. I’m back in the
hotel in St. Louis, finding myself in the fire between us. For a breath, I
forget that I’m wearing Max’s ring.
I shove at his shoulder and push him away. “Don’t
do that again.” My stomach squeezes, and my heart is so battered and beaten
that it’s unrecognizable.
***
Nate
Her eyes flash with anger, disappointment, and
heat. “Do you think you can win me with a kiss? Did you think I’m so fickle
that your mouth on mine is enough to convince me to break Max’s heart?”
I step forward, blocking her between me and the
counter as I lower my mouth to her ear. “I thought maybe you needed a
reminder.”
“What do you want from me? You want me to admit
that I want you? You know I do. You want me to tell you I’m still in love with
you? It’s true.”
My heart swells and hammers at her words. I don’t
know if I’ll ever feel worthy of Hanna’s love, but that doesn’t change that I
want it, need it like I need air.
“Isn’t that enough? Is it like this with him? When
he’s whispering in your ear, does your body hum with need? We both know I could
kiss you again and make you forget him. I could kiss you until you wanted me so
badly you climbed onto that counter and let me touch you everywhere, let me do
anything I wanted with your body.”
“You won’t,” she says, her voice shaking slightly.
“Are you so sure?”
“You won’t,” she repeats, “because I’m asking you
not to. You won’t because you’re too good not to respect that.”
“I don’t want to be good,” I growl. I step back so I can see her face—her parted lips,
her smoky eyes. “I want you.”
“I’m taken.”
“What happened?” I ask, scanning her face, trying
to read her shielding expression. “Between when I left LA and when I came back
to New Hope, what happened to make you take him back?”
She’s silent for a minute, and I wonder if she’s
going to tell me the truth. “I found out he bought me the bakery—that all my
worries and insecurities about our relationship were totally unfounded.”
“I’ll buy you a hundred bakeries.”
“But I don’t want a hundred bakeries. I only want
this one.”
Here. In New
Hope. I close my eyes because I can’t deny that geography still stands
between us.
“Please don’t kiss me again.”
“What if you ask me to?”
She swallows. “I won’t ask.”
All for This Playlist
Justin Timberlake—Drink You Away
Rihanna—Stay
Muse—Madness
Ingrid Michaelson feat. A Great Big World—Over You
A Great Big World—Already Home
Sam Smith—Stay
with Me
Pink, Nate Reuss—Just Give Me a Reason
Ani DiFranco—Falling
Is Like This
Norah Jones—Come
Away With Me
Train—Marry
Me
Oh Honey—Be
Okay
REVIEW
I have loved every second spent in New Hope with Hanna and the rest of the characters of this series, and although there has been plenty of heart ache, I've held onto hope that Hanna would make the right choice, and that she'd find her happiness with the man she truly loves and who truly deserves her in return.
Nate has had a large chunk of my heart since LOST IN ME, but Max grew on me a little in FALL TO YOU, so I knew this was going to be tough for Hanna. She seemed to be the luckiest girl in the world with two great guys wanting to love her, but it was tearing each of them apart - loving them both equally, all the turmoil and surprises that were around every bend, it wasn't good for any of them, and sometimes the right decisions were the hardest but they had to be made so that everyone involved could move on.
There was still the mystery of what exactly had happened the day of Hanna's accident, and all fingers pointed to a certain blond psycho who couldn't take no for an answer. I was so sure Meredith had had something to do with it, but maybe she was just the obvious suspect. As Hanna tried to piece back together the lost memories, trying to figure out why she had chosen Max, and if their had been any foul play the day of the accident, I was riveted, wanting to help her. As the events of the past unraveled a very shocking truth was laid bare, and I wasn't sure if I should be angry or relieved.
The interesting thing about this story was how deeply, the events throughout this series, in fact, events that stemmed from the New Hope series, had wounded so many people. This story is from Hanna, Nate and Max's POVs, and I was always so focused on their heartbreak and happiness that I kind of missed what was going on behind the scenes. Meredith is not particularly my favorite character, but to see her so broken, and to be allowed to understand where some of her bitchiness came from was enlightening. I still don't like her, but I do feel sorry for her and I hope she will find peace and love.
This book was a thrilling conclusion to an amazing series. It was filled with love and heartache, and the characters will latch onto you and never let go. I'm sad to see it end, but I was thoroughly excited to find out that Lizzy and Sam will get their own story!! So even though I am sad, I have something to look forward to and that lifts my heart.
About the Author
Once a college English professor, I now write full time. I live in rural Indiana, where, when I’m not writing, I get to hang out with my husband and two kids–a six-year-old boy and a two-year-old hellion, er, girl. Not surprisingly, reading and writing remain my favorite activities, though both come in bits and pieces these days, not the big hunks of time I enjoyed before I had children. When I’m feeling virtuous, I like to go running (I use that word liberally. I’m really, really slow) or do yoga. Don’t worry, I’m always careful to balance out such activities with a hearty serving of ice cream or a chocolate martini.
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