“Ahh... Mr. Scott!” My gaze
automatically swept to the front of the classroom, Keltar’s loud, obnoxious
voice almost impossible to ignore. “So good of you to grace us with your
presence today. I trust you’ve learned something during your time away from
school? Violence is never the answer, young man.” Frowning, the surly Santa
wannabe begrudgingly swept a pink slip of paper from a tall, muscular boy
dressed in dark clothing.
My heart jumped a little in my chest as
I surveyed the colossal mass of male student at the front of the class. What
the hell were the people of Indigo Falls feeding their sons? Some type of über
growth hormone? Over half the guys in the school looked as though they belonged
on the cover of a weightlifting magazine—chiseled, as if cut from granite. And
what was that about violence, and time away from school? Had he gotten into a
fight? From his size, he looked like someone who could deliver massive amounts
of pain with ease.
The new guy stood in complete silence as
Keltar continued on, delivering the same tired speech he’d given me upon
entering the room. The same nervous feeling that had plagued me when I entered
the school just a short time ago returned with a vengeance, and I caught myself
struggling to breathe. What the hell? The new guy, whoever he was, had a
bizarre effect on me, and to be honest, it was freaking me out a little. I
mean, hell... I hadn’t even seen his face and I had butterflies whirling in my
stomach. How was that possible? What kind of person had that type of effect on
people?
He turned around then, and the answers
to my unspoken questions all but slapped me upside the face.
Holy Mary, Mother of Pearl...
If boys were classified into two shades:
light and dark, my Paper Thief, Eli would hover somewhere in the realm of ivory
or beige. But this new guy was dark. We’re talking black down to the very pit
of his soul type dark.
Ebony eyes void of emotion swept over
the room before finally settling on his seat: the empty chair next to Erin.
Short, dark hair hugged his skull, bringing attention to the chiseled line of
his jaw. His features were strong, hard, and entirely masculine—beautiful. No
joke, he looked like an avenging angel hell bent on mayhem and destruction.
Bad. The boy was bad to the bone.
Heat scorched my neck and cheeks and my
pulse ratcheted up another notch.
Electricity arced through the air as he
neared the table, and the oxygen in the room seemed to thin even more.
Incapable of speech or movement, I sat open-mouthed, gaping at him like an
imbecilic fool. The black T-shirt he wore stretched across his broad chest like
a second skin, and revealed a set of arms, one of which sported a wicked tribal
tattoo. His gait was confident, yet lazy, and clearly shouted “I don’t give a
fuck. I’m only here because I have to be, so stay the hell out of my way.”
Erin cleared her throat and cast me a
knowing “Well, well, well. Look who thinks the bad boy is hot” smirk.
The boy’s most stand out feature was a
jagged scar which ran from the center of his skull, down along the top of his
left ear. It ended just below the left half of his jaw. The skin was thick,
raised and silvery pink making it obvious that whatever trauma had placed it
there hadn’t happened that long ago.
Heat scored the base of my skull, and I
reached, as if on autopilot, for the fat, rigid bump that crawled across my
hairline. How had he gotten his scar? A hundred different scenarios played out
in my head, none of which included the circumstance that had earned me mine.
_________________________________________________________________
Ex-Factor by Elisa Dane
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Release Date: April 14th 2014
Blurb:
Nevaeh Evan’s life is uprooted after her father’s death, when she moves in with her aunt and cousin, Livvie. Her plan to lay low at her new high school isn’t working. Her friend’s jerky boyfriend keeps asking her out, the guy she likes treats her like garbage, and the thought of tumbling again makes her want to hurl.
So when her aunt pushes her into joining the elite X-FACTOR cheer leading squad, Navaeh goes along with it.
But Nev feels she doesn’t deserve to be happy. Not after what happened the night her father died.
Bodie Scott knows about grief all too well. Critically injured in an alcohol related accident the year before, Bodie struggles with the fact that he’ll never play football again, and he’s so far behind in credits he can’t see straight. That is, until he meets Nev. Haunted by their bloody pasts and wary of a shared future, Nev and Bodie turn to one another for comfort and support, and realize they’re not so alone after all. And when the party scene at school threatens the life of a loved one, the two stop at nothing to keep the past from repeating itself.
So when her aunt pushes her into joining the elite X-FACTOR cheer leading squad, Navaeh goes along with it.
But Nev feels she doesn’t deserve to be happy. Not after what happened the night her father died.
Bodie Scott knows about grief all too well. Critically injured in an alcohol related accident the year before, Bodie struggles with the fact that he’ll never play football again, and he’s so far behind in credits he can’t see straight. That is, until he meets Nev. Haunted by their bloody pasts and wary of a shared future, Nev and Bodie turn to one another for comfort and support, and realize they’re not so alone after all. And when the party scene at school threatens the life of a loved one, the two stop at nothing to keep the past from repeating itself.
You can purchase Ex-factor at the following Retailers:
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2 winners - e-copies of Ex-Factor and Unbreakable
Great excerpt and giveaway!
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