Oh, high school. There are the football games, the cliques, the crushes, the insecurities, and the friendships that last a lifetime. There’s also the guys and girls you love to hate and hate to love. So much angst and heartache. Also fun times too, right? I decided to explore all of that with a high school series to my Kiss Starter series. The Cambridge Mayhem Series takes place in the same “world” as Kiss Starter and there will definitely be cameos from the guys and gals from Kiss Starter.
Beautiful Defiance releases August 16th and is available for preorder. And… I’m debuting the three covers here. Enjoy a sneak peek! Also, I’ve teamed up with other authors to bring you our “Book Boyfriend to Stay Home With.” My book boyfriend would be Galley Rutherford from Nora Ever After and Ryker Conway from Wicked. Those guys were so fun to write! I hope you’ll grab a book or two or three for your next weekend reads!
She’s no damsel in distress
I’m not an optimist. Or a pessimist. I’m a realist. After catching the unwanted attention of Seven Shanahan, the school bully and jock at the upper echelon of high school royalty, I prep for a battle of wills and aim to win, even at the cost of getting my heart broken.
He’s the wrong guy to mess with
The new girl, Leigh Kim, should cool her temper. Be less defiant and a pain in my ass with this push-pull of me saving her life and she evening the score by stealing the things that matter to me.
Because the more Leigh challenges the status quo, the hotter I burn with the need to bring her to her knees. For her to worship me like the other girls do. For her to be mine and no one else’s until I’m done toying with her.
I expect this and more. I am the almighty ruler at Cambridge High and won’t be overthrown by a girl with enough attitude to light up a stadium. What I’m not expecting is for Leigh to threaten the one thing I’m unwilling to give to any girl—my damn heart.
Sneak Peek: Unedited
No matter which high school I’m sent to, the halls are chocked full of the same cliques. It’s so universal, it’s laughable. There are jocks, nerds, stoners, social outcasts, goth, preppy. Some are lucky to be accepted by different groups, the lines of loyalty blurring. There are also the same kinds of guys and girls. Nice. Mean. Smart. Funny. Blessed with good looks. Or not.
Seven and his entourage of teammates amble down the hall toward me. I look away but too late, my resting bitch face catches Seven’s attention.
“What you staring at, Safari?” He sneers.
Safari? Okay, I can see how he’s interpreting my outfit as such. There’s a red bandana around my neck, tied at the ends. And I’m wearing a buttoned-up, long-sleeved white shirt half-tucked into tiki brown cargo pants. Not to mention my boots are professional grade—sturdy, leather and steel-toed.
“Nothing. I’m looking at nothing.” I blow at the nails I’ve painted a mustard yellow. The color clashes nicely with my favorite shade of lipstick—Fatal Plum.
He looks me up and down and flashes straight white teeth, his sneer doing nothing to lessen how good-looking he is in this confusing mix of menacing and holy hotness kind of way. I swear the girls loitering nearby sigh with longing.
“Did you just peg me as a nobody?”
The conversations around us stop. The other students stare. My stomach knots. If we weren’t on full display, I’d run for the nearest bathroom and hurl my breakfast into the garbage bin.
But we are the center of attention and I can’t waver. Weakness gives someone the power to hurt me and I’m done with hurting. What I’m not done with is putting up a brave front and fighting an equal grounds fight.
