SYNOPSIS:
You can’t outrun your
past. The flames will hunt you until
you’re found. You must embrace it, learn
from it, and allow it to help you grow into who you are meant to be.
Celeste knows that she cannot leave the past behind. It has scorched a dark path through her
present and her future. As she tries to
deal with the demons that haunt her and come to terms with who she really is,
she realizes what true fear is. And it’s
not Dean Marcus. The fear that consumes
her thoughts is for Ian, for their love and for his life.
You know your past has
shaped you but you refuse to bend to its will.
That is when the flames of the past will find you and take their revenge.
Ian knows the truth and his love remains strong. He wants nothing more than to protect his
future and his love at all costs. He has
the woman he loves in his arms. His
greatest desire is to make her his wife.
When more betrayal strikes at his heart, will he be able to overcome
those that seek to harm him and the woman he loves?
PURCHASE
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EXCERPT:
Gavin has been my rock and my refuge in
all of this. He took me back in or
rather helped have all my things moved from the house I shared with Ian back to
the apartment. I broke down several
times as boxes were carried in and was in no shape to actually go over to the
house to help pack my things. I spent
the day on my bed, soaking my pillow in tears.
I don’t know what I would have done without Gavin. He rarely left my side at the hospital. He has been home caring for me almost night
and day since I returned. I hate to
think about the toll I’m taking on his work and his social life. I know it’s selfish of me but I can’t
function without him right now. I need
someone to lean on and for me; Gavin is the only one. Ian would have been the only one but… Well, I don’t want to think about that right
now. Dr. Somers was adamant that I rest
my brain. No excessive reading or
watching tv; nothing that would really stress my brain, just rest, is what he
told me. I’ve tried to follow orders as
best I can.
I’d thought about getting a place of my
own when I left the hospital but Gavin would not hear of it. “Gav, I’m so sorry that you have to deal with
all this. It can’t be easy for you. I don’t blame you with the media circus and
everything if you don’t want me to come back and live with you.”
“Stop it.
I won’t listen to another word of that dribble. You will come home to our apartment and we
will eat bad chinese, get drunk and go dancing.
Once you’re feeling better that is.
And there’s nothing you can say to stop that.” Gavin’s so great to try to cheer me up. He knows I need someone to lean on and
without Ian, well, I don’t know what I would do without Gavin.
My schedule has consisted of wake, run,
lay in bed, go for an evening run on the days I don’t meet with Dr. Reeves and
then home to shower and go to bed for the night. It wouldn’t have been too much of a stretch
to say I was depressed. I knew I needed
to talk with someone, a professional.
Dr. Somers insisted upon it when I was in the hospital and introduced me
to Dr. Reeves. When I first met with
him, I didn’t think I would ever be comfortable enough to share my story with
him. Hell, I couldn’t share it with the
people that were closest to me, how would I share it with a complete
stranger? But I guess that is what makes
him the professional. From day one I
shared my life with him and he helped me walk through what it all meant for my
future.
I’ve tried to contact Ian. The 100s of voicemails that probably went
un-listened to, the texts that are too numerous for me to even fathom, daily
emails and calls to his office and the house attest to the fact that I wanted
to talk with him. Everything went
unanswered. I still remember the pain in
his voice from that brief time in the hospital.
He was broken. I’d done that to
him. I wanted to wrap him my arms but
couldn’t even manage to open my eyes. I
wanted to plead with him, to explain everything, to tell him it was the only
way to protect him, to let him know that I planned to tell him everything that
night before Dean came to the door. I
just wanted to stop him from leaving. I
remember hearing the door close and the knowledge that there was no going back
hit me full force. Ian’s gone and I’m
left here. Alone.
Nightmares have plagued me nightly since
the attack. I’m hopeful that therapy
will help alleviate them if not stop them all together. I know they are a manifestation of my fear
but I really don’t want to be afraid anymore.
Most nights Gavin has either had to calm me after the nightmare or sleep
in my room because I can’t bear to be alone afterward.
Only once do we talk about Dean being at
the hospital. Gavin said he looked like
he was studying me. He didn’t make any
move to touch me but kept mumbling about coming back to him, being with him,
loving him. It’s hard to come to grips
with the fact that Dean is essentially two people, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde if
you will. There’s the one side that
actually seems to care for me but it’s more the kind of care that a master has
for his pet. Then there’s the sadistic
side, the side the reveled in my pain; the side that only wants to take, take
from me, take from my father, take everything and that would kill me in the
process. That Dean was the one I had
come to know so well after our engagement.
I tried so many times to break things off with him; either he would
convince me to come back or force me to with threats, eventually I thought my
fate was sealed. I had no idea anyone could be so cruel, evil. But Dean showed me time and again that I had
no idea what real evil was until him.
S.M. Lynn Author
Bio:
S.M. Lynn has a Bachelor's Degree in Secondary Education with an English specialization. She resides in small town Nebraska with her husband and two children. She writes contemporary romance leaning toward the erotic but enjoys mixing in elements of suspense.
When her family can pry her away from writing and reading, she works in her husband's financial services firm. Between kids and work there is not much time left over but when she has some, she enjoys traveling, watching Vampire Diaries and scouring Facebook for book deals.
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SYNOPSIS:
Can love really
conquer all? Even when the secrets are
so big, someone could die for keeping them, has died to keep them?
Celeste Brooks
is haunted by a past she cannot escape.
Plagued by nightmares and fear that her secret will be discovered, she
buries herself in her MBA and work, opening up to no one except her roommate,
Gavin. Until her path crosses with his.
Ian Jacobs made
a vow when his heart was broken that he would never allow anyone that close
again. Being a sexy business mogul has
its perks, and having many attractive women throw themselves at you is just
one. Until his path crosses with hers.
As soon as Ian
finds Celeste has applied for a position with Jacobs Enterprises, he takes
matters into his own hands, knowing that he must possess this woman at any cost. Celeste finds herself under Ian’s spell and
knows that she will do anything to be close to this man. Including revealing her secrets? As their paths, past and present, collide,
they must decide to risk it all or leave each other behind.
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