Hello everyone. I hope your week has been amazing so far. Welcome to my post on WIP IT UP WEDNESDAY blog hop. If you are new to this hop or are just now deciding that joining this hop would be a great idea, visit the WIP IT IP WEDNESDAY blog home page at: http://wipitupwednesday.blogspot.co.uk/
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This week I’m continuing from my upcoming release, Outcast, Supernaturals Book 2, a para-normal romance. Here is what I have for the blurb at the moment:
Leigh Alexander has lived every day of her life feeling like an outcast amongst her family and the small-minded people of Pine Hollow, a secretive community in which her parents had been a part of be-fore she was born, and when Leigh’s sister asks Leigh to come for her wedding, Leigh’s torn between being there for her sister and staying home so as to not suffer through the verbal abuse she knows is coming her way if she goes.
Knowing she’ll regret her decision, Leigh gives into her sister and goes home for what she hopes is the last time. Leigh was ready to be ignored, to be shunned, to be told she didn’t belong all because she was a size eighteen, but what she hadn’t been ready for was falling for Ryan Hart, a man who knows all of the secrets Leigh’s family and the town of Pine Hollow refuse to tell her.
Ryan might be sworn to secrecy, but to save Leigh emotionally and physically, he’ll tell her everything about who she is, or more importantly who she isn’t, even if it will forever change her life and the lives of every person living in Pine Hollow.
My cover artist has also started working on the cover. Maybe I’ll have something for you guys to see next week.
The following is a continuation from last week’s post. I’ve decided to give you the remainer of chapter one.
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Hearing one of Dave’s brothers call my name from the hall, I rushed to where the wedding procession was lining up. I stood just behind Allen, Dave’s brother and best man, my arm locked with Tiffany, a tall redheaded bridesmaid with no hips, small breasts, and cute freckles. She was Danielle’s cousin. Tiffany was adorable, and at one time, I had contemplated asking her out, but then she spoke, showing me who she really was, and that thought had dissipated.
We had been at a birthday party for Danielle when I had talked to Tiffany for the first time. A minute after I thought of asking the girl out, Leigh had walked into the room, and she had been all I could think about the rest of the day. Even though she had never spoken more than a few words to me in all the years I’d known her, she has stayed on my mind.
Tiffany’s comment, the one that had made me instantly dislike her, had been about Leigh. That comment had been my first glimpse at what Leigh’s life was like amongst my people. I had been so shocked by what Tiffany had said that I hadn’t been able to respond to it in time. Danielle had told her to shut her mouth and left the group to meet Leigh to keep her away from us. I had barely had time to make eye contact with Danielle’s beautiful sister before Danielle had steered the woman away, looking back at us with a snarl.
Tiffany had turned her appalled look my way as if I shared her outrage, but I turned from the girl in disgust. I hadn’t known then who Leigh was. I had seen glimpses of her a time or two at different social events, but she hadn’t stayed long enough for me to inquire about her. That night, I had turned to Dave and asked all about her, as if I hadn’t a clue who she was, so that he wouldn’t sense my interest in her.
“That’s Danielle’s sister. You know, the one who doesn’t know she’s adopted and that the real reason everyone shuns her is because she’s human and not a shapeshifter,” he had said in a low whisper even though we were already out of earshot of most of the supernatural beings in the room.
“Why haven’t I seen her around all that much?” I asked.
“Danielle says that even though they haven’t told her our secret or hers, she knows she isn’t one of us, so she usually only pops in at family functions for a second to say hello to her family then heads back to wherever she lives,” Dave said.
“Just because she isn’t one of us doesn’t mean she can’t spend her sister’s birthday with her,” I said, scowling.
“No, but who wants to be somewhere they aren’t wanted?”
“Why would she not be wanted? Just because she isn’t pack doesn’t mean she isn’t loved and wanted by her family.”
“Look, I don’t know how they feel. I assume they love her or they wouldn’t have kept her, but you have to admit she’s different, and having her around is a bit inconvenient, and, well, look at her.”
“What do you mean, ‘look at her’? I am looking at her. She’s beautiful. Outwardly, she doesn’t look any different than the rest of us.”
“Yes, she does. Look at her.”
“What? Just because she isn’t stick-figure Barbie, like those girls,” I pointed to Tiffany and a group of other girls gathered around a table talking, “doesn’t make her different.”
“Man, I don’t know what has gotten into you, but let it go. She’s of no consequence to us, and in a few years, she’ll be little more than a faded memory to everyone in this room.”
Not believing that my best friend could be such an ass, I turned from him and went in search of Dan-ielle and her sister. I hadn’t known it at the time, but Dave had been playing a part, pretending to go along with the status quo, to keep the peace. I had every intention of introducing myself to the girl and doing my best to prove to her that we weren’t all so hard to like. My search proved fruitless though. By the time I caught up with Danielle, her sister had left, but not before giving her the birthday present she had brought.
“Happy birthday, birthday girl,” I said, giving the love of my best friend’s life a one-armed hug. “Whatcha got there?”
“A present from Leigh.” My heart broke at the sight of the tears that were flowing down her cheeks.
“Your sister’s here. Where is she? I haven’t officially met her yet,” I said, all but cutting off the rest of her sentence, wanting to jump right to the Danielle introducing me to her sister part of this conversa-tion.
“She left,” she said, looking down at the gift in her hand so that I couldn’t see the tears in her eyes. “She couldn’t stay long. She just wanted to give me her gift.”
“Doesn’t she have to fly into town? Could she not find an earlier flight so that she could spend more time with you?” Danielle didn’t react to my judgmental tone. She simply looked at the lilac-colored pa-per, sighed, and tucked the gift away to presumably open later before going to find Dave.
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That’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed it.
***Shifter, Supernaturals Books 1, is a paranormal romance available for $2.99. Shifter is also available on Audio @ Audible.com*** Read by Margi Stephens
Abby is a plus size woman struggling to learn to love herself despite the damage her ex did to her mentally and psychically. For reasons unknown to her, she wakes one morning with an urge to adopt another cat. What she doesn’t know is that the cat she picks is actually Dimitri Sullivan, the son of a local shapeshifter pack’s alpha who was cursed by a powerful witch into the form of a common house cat after he had a one-nightstand with her. As the months pass, Dimitri finds himself falling in love with his new owner, but there is just one problem, she doesn’t know that he is her cat and she is currently dating his brother. When the witch that cursed him discovers that by falling for Abby, he is weakening her curse, she sets out to stop this from happening by any means necessary.
SHIFTER is a 374-page, stand-alone eBook.