I have another excerpt for you today, this time from "Devlin's Grace", a contemporary romance by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy. Lee Ann is a full-time romance author. A native of the old historic city of St. Joseph, Missouri, one time home to both Jesse James and the Pony Express, she now lives and writes in the beautiful Missouri Ozark region. Her romance novels include Love Never Fails, Witness Protection Program, Sing We Now of Christmas, A Patient Heart, In Love’s Own Time, Miss Good Samaritan, In The Shadow of War, Guy’s Angel, and Heart of the Ozarks, all from Rebel Ink Press. She also has six other novels and several novellas available. Her work also appears in more than twenty anthologies and she has multiple short story/non-fiction credits.
She is a member of RWA, Missouri
Writers Guild, EPIC, and the Ozarks Writers League. Her work also appears in
multiple anthologies. She earned a BA degree in both English and History from
Missouri Southern State University as well as an AA Degree in Journalism from
Crowder College. She worked in broadcast
media for a decade and also has a background in education. Her weekly column “Hindsight” appears each
week in the Neosho Daily News.
Find Lee Ann online:
Email
- leeannwriter@gmail.com
Amazon
Author Page - http://www.amazon.com/Lee-Ann-Sontheimer-Murphy/e/B004JPBM6I
Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/4543214.Lee_Ann_Sontheimer_Murphy
********************************************************************************************
********************************************************************************************
Excerpt (Sweet)
When he held out the cup, Gracie
noticed the scarring on the underside of his left arm. Dead white skin mottled with angry red
patches and rough ridges indicated he’d suffered serious burns. She noticed similar scars on the side of his
neck and wondered how much of his body had been affected. Everything she’d learned screamed at her to
say nothing, to ignore what she saw, but Gracie followed instinct. After accepting the cup, she put it down on
the end table and touched the old burn.
Her fingers brushed against the coarse skin and marveled to find it
cool. She expected heat, but it would’ve
gone long ago. Dev started to jerk away
from her, but when she touched him, he stopped.
Like a bird poised for flight, he remained still as she stroked the
damaged area.
Before she could speak, he pulled
his arm back and with a defiant glint in his eyes, he removed his t-shirt. “If
you want to see the scars, you can see them all,” Dev said, voice harsh and
hoarse.
He revealed a torso dappled with
terrible raised welts, both back and belly.
These scars were worse than the others.
Raised red ropes twined like vines over his flesh, fused and almost
melted. The agony Dev endured was beyond
anything she could imagine and Gracie’s eyes brimmed with tears. They spilled over, down her cheeks with
silent hurt. One glance at his face, set
hard and as stoic as a statue intensified her empathy. She laid her right hand on his back, his
scarred flesh beneath her touch and with her left she touched the center of his
chest.
Beneath her hand his heartbeat
thumped, rapid but steady. His eyes
locked with hers and in them Gracie glimpsed flickers of his personal
hell. Confusion showed up, too, along with
regret and maybe shame.
Whatever she did or said now
would be pivotal, she sensed. Based on
her actions he’d either leave and be gone from her forever, something she
didn’t want, or a new beginning would emerge, delicate and fragile. If she took time to think, she’d be lost so
Gracie mined deep into her woman’s soul.
When words came, she spoke them, her voice soft and yet as constant as
the evening stars. “Oh, Dev, it must’ve
hurt so much.”
“I don’t want your pity,” he
said, a snarl transforming his face into something wolfish, alien. “Don’t feel sorry for me, babe. I don’t need charity and I sure as hell don’t
need you to tell me some dumb ass feel good bunch of shit. So quit crying over me. Maybe it makes you feel better, but it makes
me mad.”
“It isn’t pity,” Gracie told him.
“I admire you. It takes a lot of courage
to overcome hurts like this. I hurt for
you, but I don’t feel sorry for you. I
hate you had to go through such pain, but I’m crying because I care.”
His hard face softened a little.
“Why?”
In this raw moment, she could
give him nothing but honesty. “I don’t know, but I do.”
Then Gracie leaned forward and
bent just enough to touch her lips to one of the ugliest lesions, the worst of
the scars. He shuddered as she kissed
his chest and when she lifted her tear streaked face, Devlin grasped her arms. He held her in place and kissed her back,
full on the mouth, without remorse or mercy.
Gracie gasped with surprise. His
lips burned hers as if she kissed a devil fresh from the pit, but she liked
it. Her body answered his call and her
arms moved to circle his neck as she gave him back the kiss.
For your enjoyment here's the book trailer:
Author: Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Publisher: Rebel Ink Press
ASIN: B00A8J1D1I
Format: ebook
Format: ebook
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary
Length: 398 KB
Length: 398 KB
Release Date: November 15, 2012
Book Blurb (from the author):
When he rides out of the fog on his motorcycle, Gracie Alloway almost mistook him for a demon rising from the smoke and steam of hell. Except she's attracted to him from the first moment. Devlin's everything she's not - wild and a little wicked. But opposites attract because good girl, college student Gracie wants more of this bad boy.
Devlin dreamed up a fantasy woman back in Iraq a lot like Gracie and she evokes a side he hasn't shown anyone in years. She also dares to enter his personal space and take liberties no other woman's dared. Although he struggles with PTSD and other issues, Gracie won’t run and she refuses to abandon Devlin.
********************************************************************************************
If she can just tame him and help him battle his demons. If he can teach her how to live a little bit more, they might just have a chance at a future together.
Prize is 5 eBook copies of “Devlin’s Grace” (1 each to 5 winners). Contest is tour-wide and open internationally. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter. Ends Nov 28th.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Nice excerpt.
ReplyDelete